Cleaner Tech

AI and Affordability Dominate First Day of BloombergNEF Energy Summit

Data centers are becoming the key lens for understanding the clean tech industry and US politics.

Speakers at the BloombergNEF Summit in San Francisco.

Photographer: Randall Gee

After two decades of flat electric demand, artificial intelligence has emerged as the US power industry’s great hope. More recently, it's become clear AI is also its biggest threat.

It’s no wonder, then, that AI, data centers and their impact on the utility bills of homes and businesses dominated conversation Monday at BloombergNEF’s annual summit in San Francisco.