A major watchdog says data centers are wreaking havoc on North America's power grid (www.businessinsider.com)

The North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC) has issued a Level 3 alert—its highest warning—regarding significant risks posed by the increasing number of data centers, particularly those engaged in AI training. This alert highlights that the rapid power fluctuations associated with these data centers can threaten the stability of the electric grid across the US, Canada, and parts of Mexico. NERC has expressed concern that current grid operators are unprepared to deal with the "wild power swings" resulting from the computational demands of AI workloads, which can cause extreme changes in power consumption within seconds. This situation is particularly critical as data centers, along with crypto mining operations, are emerging as major consumers of electricity. The alert urges operators to implement immediate risk mitigation plans to prevent potential power outages or blackouts. As data centers continue to proliferate alongside the escalating demands of AI and other technologies, NERC's warning serves as a crucial call to action for the AI/ML community and electric grid stakeholders to address the implications of these heavy power users on grid reliability.