Building up the US power grid won't be wasted, even if the AI bubble bursts

US power companies must decide how much capacity to build for soaring datacenter demand, knowing that some planned facilities may never materialize and the AI bubble could deflate. Consulting firm McKinsey & Company says the greater near-term risk is building too little. Driven by the AI craze, a boom in datacenter building is expected to see the energy consumed by these facilities grow by 26 percent this year, as The Register reported not too long ago. McKinsey's own figures indicate that d