Elon Musk Predicts Electricity Shortage in Two Years

The man behind the race to replace gasoline-fueled cars with electric ones is worried about having enough juice.

In recent days he has reiterated those concerns, predicting U.S. consumption of electricity, driven in part by battery-powered vehicles, will triple by around 2045. That followed his saying earlier this month that he anticipates an electricity shortage in two years that could stunt the energy-hungry development of artificial intelligence. âoeYou really need to bring the time scale of projects in sooner and have a high sense of urgency,â Musk told energy executives Tuesday at a conference held by PG&E, one of the nationâ(TM)s largest utilities. âoeMy biggest concern is that thereâ(TM)s insufficient urgency….

The U.S. energy industry in recent years already has struggled at times to keep up with demand, resorting to threats of rolling blackouts amid heat waves and other demand spikes. Those stresses have rattled an industry undergoing an upheaval as old, polluting plants are being replaced by renewable energy. Utilities are spending big to retool their systems to be greener and make them more resilient. Deloitte estimates the largest U.S. electric companies together will spend as much as $1.8 trillion by 2030 on those efforts. Adding to the challenge is an industry historically accustomed to moving slowly, partly because of regulators aiming to protect consumers from price increases…

PG&E expects electricity demand will rise 70% in the next 20 years, which, the California company notes, would be unprecedented. Similarly, McKinsey expects U.S. demand will double by 2050. âoeThis is an opportunity of the century for the power sector, and they could blow it if they donâ(TM)t get it right,â Michael Webber, an energy resources professor at the University of Texas, Austin, said of the industry. âoeThis demand growth is partly from EVs, but also heat pumps, data centers, AI, home devicesâ¦you name it….â

One of Muskâ(TM)s solutions is to better optimize the grid by running power plants around-the-clock and storing the energy not used during peak hours in battery packs for use later. âoeIâ(TM)m not sure it might be as much as a 2x gainâ¦but itâ(TM)s at least 50% to 100% increase in total energy output,â Musk said recently.