Utilities Grapple with a Multibillion Question: How Much AI Data Center Power Demand Is Real

Energy attorney Willie Phillips was cited in a CNBC article on how U.S. utilities are assessing artificial intelligence (AI)-driven data center demand amid uncertainty as tech firms shop megaprojects across multiple regions. The article noted that even small forecasting errors can shift billions in grid investment and customer bills, complicating generation and transmission planning. Utilities face competing signals: a powerful rally in utility stocks and projections of historic load growth versus infrastructure constraints, long interconnection queues and equipment shortages.

"There is a question about whether or not all of the projections, if they're real," said Mr. Phillips, who previously served as chairman of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC). "There are some regions who have projected huge increases, and they have readjusted those back."

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