Digital Download: Artificial Intelligence Will Redefine Energy Demand

By Delegate Cliff Hayes

Artificial intelligence is often discussed in terms of software, algorithms, and futuristic applications.  However, one of the most important realities surrounding AI is far less glamorous: electricity.

Artificial intelligence requires enormous amounts of energy.

Every AI model, cloud platform, data center, and future quantum computing system depends upon massive electrical capacity.  As AI adoption accelerates globally, energy demand is expected to rise dramatically.

The future battle for economic competitiveness may not simply be about talent or tax policy.  It may increasingly depend upon who can generate enough electricity to power intelligence itself.

That reality is reshaping conversations around energy infrastructure across the country.

Here in Virginia, this discussion intersects directly with offshore wind development, transmission infrastructure, grid modernization, and advanced manufacturing investments.  Hampton Roads sits at the center of many of these developments.

Projects connected to offshore wind and undersea cable manufacturing are not isolated economic initiatives.  They are foundational components of the future energy ecosystem that advanced computing will require.

Artificial intelligence is also changing how utilities manage the electric grid itself.  AI-driven systems can help forecast demand spikes, improve energy efficiency, detect outages more rapidly, and optimize distribution systems in real time.

Eventually, quantum computing could expand energy demand even further due to the extraordinary computational and cooling requirements associated with advanced error correction systems.

This is why conversations surrounding energy policy, digital infrastructure, and economic development can no longer occur in separate silos.

They are now interconnected.

Communities and states that strategically align energy generation, transmission capability, and digital infrastructure may become major players in the next generation economy.

Virginia has an opportunity to lead if we continue thinking proactively and collaboratively.

The future economy will not simply run on innovation.  It will run on power.