‘Never-ending demand’: Household bills expected to rise due to AI energy consumption
For all its benefits, the rise of artificial intelligence is likely to have an effect on your household bills that you will not like.
The global AI boom is well on its way to Australia, with the prices of energy and property expected to rise as a result.
The government will need to find a solution to prevent Aussies from footing the bill, with a Coalition minister spruiking nuclear energy as a potential solution.
Increased investment from international firms in Australian AI infrastructure over the coming years is set to drive up demand for land and energy to support the technology.
Energy and utility expert Phillip Vrettakis said the demand for energy from technology companies “is much more than we’ve got available”.
“It’s going to be a challenge for the entire energy sector,” he said.
Mr Vrettakis, an executive director of energy advisory firm Rennie, said the increase in energy demand from data centres would lead to “bigger bills for consumers going forward”.
Data centres have a “never-ending demand” for energy and are “hungry” for data, land and water to cool their facilities, he said.
“At the moment there’s a real scramble for locations that are close to city centres to make sure infrastructure, especially fibre connections and latency are short.”
The warning comes after US-based software giant OpenAI confirmed plans to open its first Australian office in Sydney, and Amazon pledged a $20bn investment in local data centres.
A spokesperson for the federal government’s trade and investment promotion agency Austrade, said they are “seeing strong interest from international investors” in AI.
An April report from the International Energy Agency projected electricity demand from data centres worldwide is set to more than double by 2030.
Coalition spokesman for Energy Dan Tehan said nuclear innovations in the United States including small modular reactors could provide a solution to Australian energy demands.
“There’s basically a nuclear renaissance taking place in the US,” Mr Tehan told ABC Radio National on Thursday following a trip to the US touring nuclear sites.
“Everyone that I spoke to is incredibly confident given the use of AI, given the use of quantum, that they will continue to make rapid developments with nuclear technology.
Coalition spokesman for Energy, Dan Tehan, said nuclear innovations in the United States, including small modular reactors, could provide a solution to Australian energy demands.
“There’s basically a nuclear renaissance taking place in the US,” Mr Tehan told ABC Radio National on Thursday, following a trip to the US touring nuclear sites.
“Everyone that I spoke to is incredibly confident, given the use of AI, given the use of quantum, that they will continue to make rapid developments with nuclear technology.
Originally published as ‘Never-ending demand’: Household bills expected to rise due to AI energy consumption
