As a record-breaking heat dome pushed the US grid to its limits in early July 2026, this Al Jazeera report captures the mounting tension between AI data centers' resource demands and public tolerance for them. PJM Interconnection asked federal regulators to let it order data centers onto backup generators within 15 minutes of an emergency signal to free up power for residential customers, while a Gallup survey found seven in ten Americans oppose data center construction in their local communities. The piece also covers evaporative cooling's heavy water draw (up to 5 million gallons a day for a large facility), Henrico County, VA schools being asked to cut power use, and Corpus Christi, TX's drought-strained water supply amid nearby data center development.
US heatwave raises alarms over AI data centre energy demands | Energy News | Al Jazeera
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Al Jazeera
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July 3, 2026
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