AI and Affordability Dominate First Day of BloombergNEF Summit

After two decades of flat electric demand, artificial intelligence has emerged as the US power industry’s great hope. More recently, it’s become clear AI is also its biggest threat.

It’s no wonder, then, that AI, data centers and their impact on the utility bills of homes and businesses dominated conversation Monday at BloombergNEF’s annual summit in San Francisco.

Already, the data center boom has shaped the US economy. In November, it swayed elections in New Jersey, Virginia and Georgia. It’s now poised to play a key role in the congressional midterms this fall.

Here are five takeaways from the first ...