Think from KERA You might be paying Amazon’s power bill
Feb 13, 2026
Karen Weise, technology correspondent for The New York Times, covers data centers, AI, and energy infrastructure. She explains how massive server farms and AI workloads are driving electricity demand. She discusses tech companies buying and building power, grid upgrades cities need, and who ends up paying as energy use and costs rise.
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AI Demands Intensify Grid Pressure
- AI workloads require much denser, parallel computing and therefore far more electricity than traditional computing tasks.
- Karen Weise explains data centers are sized by electricity needs, not square footage, highlighting power as the core constraint.
Tech Is Becoming A Major Energy Buyer
- Big tech is moving from buying power to investing in generation and startups, including nuclear and gas projects.
- Weise says electricity is becoming a primary bottleneck for AI growth, rivaling chip shortages.
Off‑Grid Generation Speeds Deployment
- Some companies build 'behind the meter' or off-grid generation to avoid queue delays and speed deployment.
- That approach reduces regulation but can stress local grids and complicate backup arrangements, Weise warns.