Panel: Artificial Intelligence and the Energy Addition Challenge

Why It Matters

Accelerated AI workloads will strain existing grids, creating a multi‑billion‑dollar market for infrastructure upgrades and integrated power‑data solutions, reshaping investment priorities for utilities, tech firms and governments.

Key Takeaways

• AI data centers could double electricity demand by 2030
• Grid peaks, not average load, drive infrastructure investment needs
• Misconception: AI is only a tech story, it's an energy story
• UAE plans AI-native infrastructure, building ahead of demand
• Behind‑meter power generation offers hyperscalers faster, cheaper capacity

Summary

The panel brought together leaders from Dominion Energy, ABB, Escale and the UAE to examine how exploding AI‑driven data‑center workloads are reshaping electricity demand and what that means for grid planners.

Speakers noted that data centers already account for roughly 28 % of Dominion’s sales in Virginia and that global capacity is expected to double by 2030. Peak‑demand days have surged, with the 22 highest peaks occurring in the last 18 months, highlighting that the challenge is less about average load and more about handling extreme spikes.

Bob Blue warned that the grid must manage “80 days a year at maximum capacity,” while Morton Verrode described the system as a “neurosystem” needing software‑driven optimization. UAE Vice‑Chair Miriam Al Mahiri emphasized that AI is fundamentally an energy and infrastructure story, and Escale’s Gardner Bomay showcased a behind‑meter, natural‑gas‑fired 8 GW campus that bundles power generation, data‑center construction and chip ownership.

The consensus is clear: massive capital for transmission upgrades, renewable integration and digital controls is required, and success will depend on coordinated policy, public‑private partnerships and new business models that lock in power at scale. Companies that can deliver end‑to‑end, low‑cost capacity will capture the fastest‑growing slice of the AI market.

Original Description

Powering artificial intelligence (AI) requires massive amounts of additional electricity and a major expansion of generation and delivery infrastructure. Meeting the challenge of unprecedented energy demand from AI will be a defining challenge of this decade, compounded by rising energy demand from electrification and revitalized industrial growth. This panel examines the full range of potential solutions—and asks the harder question: which policy, technology, and investment solutions can deliver power in the most efficient, secure, and cost-effective way as the AI-economy grows?

Speakers:

H.E. Mariam Almheiri

Vice Chair and Managing Director, 2PointZero

Robert M. Blue

Chair, President and Chief Executive Officer, Dominion Energy

Gardner Boulmay

Chief Sustainability Officer, Nscale

Morten Wierod

President and Chief Executive Officer, ABB

Session Chair:

Lyndsey Merrill Feinberg

Managing Director and Head of Middle East and North Africa, GCM Grosvenor;

Nonresident Senior Fellow, Global Energy Center and Middle East Programs, Atlantic Council