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According to the news on August 20, in the first half of this year,American Electric PowerDevelopers have dramatically increased power generation capacity to cope with growth in electricity demand driven by data centers and artificial intelligence, the biggest increase in more than two decades.

USAenergyThe latest report released by the Information Administration on Monday pointed out that in the first half of this year, U.S. power developers significantly increased power generation capacity to meet the growing power demand driven by data centers and artificial intelligence, increasing by 20.2%Gigawatt(A gigawatt is 1 billion watts or 1 million kilowatts.) That’s the largest increase in a given period since 2003. New capacity surged 21% compared with the same period in 2023, with total growth expected to reach 42.6 gigawatts by the end of the year.

Solar power is expected to take center stage in annual planned capacity additions for the rest of the year, accounting for nearly 60% of total planned capacity additions, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. This year alone, new solar projects will drive capacity growth to 37 GW.

Surging demand for electricity from data centers and the shift toward electrification have increased the urgent need for more power generation. The National Energy Information Administration expects much of the new supply to come from carbon-free power sources, including solar and battery storage.

However, growing energy demand has led to thenatural gasThe retirement of power plants has slowed down. According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, in the first half of 2024, the number of these power plants retired was 45% lower than in the same period last year.