Energy and Artificial Intelligence

AI and modern energy systems are deeply interconnected. The technology has created a new electricity demand paradigm in the United States, creating both opportunities and challenges for grid operations, power generation, and pricing. 

NEWS

Energy hungry data centers 7/15/2026

Media tip sheet: Energy hungry data centers

Payne Institute Faculty Fellows Ian Lange and Salman Mohagheghi contributed to this article about how AI is driving an unprecedented expansion of data centers across the U.S., creating challenges for electric utilities, energy producers, policymakers and communities.  July 15, 2027.

AI, Defense Spending Fuel the Rush to Mine Minerals, Report Says 7/14/2026

AI, Defense Spending Fuel the Rush to Mine Minerals, Report Says

Payne Institute Faculty Fellow Ian Lange contributes to this article about how the global mining industry says more extraction of rare earth minerals is necessary to fight climate change. But a new report says conventional industries, AI and defense are driving much of the demand.  July 14, 2026.

China’s Tungsten Controls Expose a Semiconductor Chokepoint 7/13/2026

China’s Tungsten Controls Expose a Semiconductor Chokepoint

Payne Institute Director Morgan Bazilian, Senior Research Fellow Jahara Matisek, and Brandon Owens write about how WF6, a critical semiconductor gas, remains available despite reports of Japanese production exits. Yet China-linked tungsten feedstock controls, price spikes, concentrated supply, and 18–24-month qualification cycles expose a deeper bottleneck AI-driven chip demand cannot quickly solve.  July 13, 2026.

The Future of Energy Access in the Post-2030 Sustainable Development Landscape: Framing the Dialogue 7/7/2026

New MECS-CCG Briefing Paper – The Future of Energy Access in the Post-2030 Sustainable Development Landscape: Framing the Dialogue

Payne Institute Director Morgan Bazilian is a co-author on this new briefing highlighting the critical importance of keeping energy access, security, affordability, and sustainability central to the post-2030 international development agenda. It emphasises the establishment of an inclusive process to review progress on Sustainable Development Goal 7 (SDG7) and shape a strengthened global energy framework beyond 2030.  July 7, 2026.

A Strategic Framework for U.S. Engagement in Africa’s Critical Minerals 6/25/2026

A Strategic Framework for U.S. Engagement in Africa’s Critical Minerals

Payne Institute Critical Minerals Program Manager Clarkson Kamurai, Richard Gabah, and Payne Institute Critical Minerals Research Associate Isabel Guajardo write about how advanced manufacturing, artificial intelligence (AI), and many other technologies are fundamentally dependent on mineral inputs. Africa is emerging as an important partner given its vast critical mineral endowment and increasing openness to foreign investment.  June 25, 2026.

How Artificial Intelligence Data Centers Are Reshaping the Regulatory Architecture of U.S. Electricity 6/23/2026

How Artificial Intelligence Data Centers Are Reshaping the Regulatory Architecture of U.S. Electricity

Payne Institute Director Morgan Bazilian and Brandon N. Owens write about how AI data centers are stressing U.S. power regulation. The article argues for verified large-load governance: milestone-based forecasting, cost-causation tariffs, flexible service classes, operational visibility, and coordinated federal-state oversight.  June 23, 2026.

Mineral demand from AI data centers: Infrastructure intensity, processing bottlenecks, and supply competition 613/2026

Mineral demand from AI data centers: Infrastructure intensity, processing bottlenecks, and supply competition

Macdonald Amoah, Maxwell Brown, Adam Simon, Payne Institute Director Morgan Bazilian, and Senior Research Fellow Jahara Matisek write about how Artificial Intelligence (AI) buildout’s demand for critical materials is driven primarily by bulk infrastructure requirements, using a bottom-up model to quantify this effect across 20 materials through 2035. June 13, 2026.

The Millisecond Menace 6/10/2026

The Millisecond Menance

Payne Institute Director Morgan Bazilian and Denis Kouroussis write about how the 800-volt DC data center promises faster, leaner AI infrastructure. But synchronized GPU power swings are turning electrical design into a millisecond-scale control problem.  June 10, 2026.

Is AI’s Next Frontier Underwater and in Orbit? 5/20/2026

Is AI’s Next Frontier Underwater and in Orbit?

Payne Institute Director Morgan Bazilian, Fellow Alex Gilbert, Senior Research Fellow Jahara Matisek write about how AI compute is moving offshore and into orbit as power, cooling, land, and permitting constraints intensify. Subsea and orbital data centers could improve resilience but create new security, governance, and geopolitical risks.  May 20, 2026.

Command of the Interconnect: The Hidden Infrastructure War Beneath Artificial Intelligence 5/10/2026

Command of the Interconnect: The Hidden Infrastructure War Beneath Artificial Intelligence

Macdonald Amoah, Payne Institute Senior Research Fellow Jahara Matisek, and Director Morgan Bazilian write about how AI’s future may hinge on an obscure material few policymakers recognize: indium phosphide, which powers the optical interconnects linking massive AI chip clusters. As China tightens export controls, the U.S. faces a strategic chokepoint in the physical infrastructure underlying AI dominance.  May 10, 2026.

Quantum chokepoints: The industrial ceiling of the tech race 5/1/2026

Quantum chokepoints: The industrial ceiling of the tech race

MacDonald Amoah, Payne Institute Director Morgan Bazilian, and Senior Research Fellow Jahara Matisek write about how in January 2026, IonQ announced a $1.8 billion acquisition of SkyWater Technology, a U.S. semiconductor foundry, to secure domestic fabrication and hardware production capacity.  The deal was framed as a step toward building fault-tolerant quantum machines at scale. However, it was a stunning move, because a company built on the mind-bending principles of quantum physics was buying a firm that specializes in the familiar world of silicon chips.  May 1, 2026.

 

The Hidden Supply Chain Risk in AI:US Reliance on China’s Yttrium 4/9/26

The Hidden Supply Chain Risk in AI: US Reliance on China’s Yttrium

Payne Institute Director Morgan Bazilian, Senior Research Associate Jahara Matisek, and Macdonald Amoah write about the biggest consequence of the artificial intelligence (AI) buildout.  Aside from the water, electrical, and mineral demands, it is the scramble for gas turbines. Data centers, especially hyperscale AI centers, need power at an immense scale that many local grids cannot deliver, forcing developers to build their own large-scale natural gas generation in the race. April 9, 2026.

In Indian Country, Data Centers Come With a Familiar Threat of Colonialism. These Organizers Are Fighting Back. 4/7/2026

In Indian Country, Data Centers Come With a Familiar Threat of Colonialism. These Organizers Are Fighting Back.

The Payne Institute Native American Mining and Energy Sovereignty (NAMES) previously published commentary was cited in this paper about how when a data center proposal popped up on the Muscogee Reservation, these activists fought to stop it. Their work isn’t over yet.  April 7, 2027.

Data centers are gobbling up a resource — but not the one you think 3/25/2026

Data centers are gobbling up a resource — but not the one you think

Brandon N. Owens and Payne Institute Director Morgan Bazilian write about how expanding footprint of AI infrastructure creates a thirst for more than electricity.  Technology companies are committing billions of dollars to facilities designed to power the next generation of computing.   March 25, 2026.

The Iran War Just Exposed America’s Hidden AI Chokepoint: Helium 3/23/2026

The Iran War Just Exposed America’s Hidden AI Chokepoint: Helium

Payne Institute Director Morgan Bazilian, Senior Research Fellow Jahara Matisek, and Macdonald Amoah write about how to deal with helium shortages from the war in Iran, Washington must treat helium as strategic, coordinate with allies, build redundancy, and incentivize recovery technologies.  March 23, 2026.

Global copper demand outstrips supply, threatening electrification and industrial growth 3/19/2026

Global copper demand outstrips supply, threatening electrification and industrial growth

Payne Institute Director Morgan Bazilian and Adam Charles Simon write about how the demand for copper is surging because of demand from new technologies, but suppliers are struggling to keep up, and they are likely to fall further behind in the coming years, resulting in shortfalls globally.  March 19, 2026.

As data centers go off-grid, utilities face new cost and planning risks 3/17/2026

As data centers go off-grid, utilities face new cost and planning risks

Brandon Owens and Payne Institute Director Morgan Bazilian write about how industry disclosures suggest that by the end of the decade, a meaningful share of new data center capacity could be partially or fully self-supplied. Increasingly, many of those data centers are choosing not to rely on the electric grid at all.  March 17, 2026.

Reviewing the socio-technical dynamics of AI, data centers and digitalization on energy and the environment 3/12/2026

Reviewing the socio-technical dynamics of AI, data centers and digitalization on energy and the environment

Payne Institute Fellow Steve Griffiths and Director Morgan Bazilian, along with a team of experts, write about how the recent and rapid expansion of artificial intelligence (AI), data centers, and other digitalization technologies has accelerated global electricity consumption, creating a new paradigm in energy and growth. Still, no comprehensive framework exists to evaluate the role of low-carbon innovations across AI’s complex sociotechnical ecosystem.  March 12, 2026.

When the Cloud Becomes a Target: The Future of War Is Your Internet

When the Cloud Becomes a Target: The Future of War Is Your Internet

Macdonald Amoah, Payne Institute Director Morgan Bazilian, and Fellow Jahara Matisek write about how to defend against data centers becoming military targets, governments must prioritize geographic dispersion, treat them as critical infrastructure, and move beyond a cybersecurity-only approach. March 9, 2026.

America’s Data Center Boom Must Not Depend on Chinese Batteries 3/6/2026

America’s Data Center Boom Must Not Depend on Chinese Batteries

Jesse R. Edmondson and Payne Institute Director Morgan Bazilian write about how the United States must build its own domestic battery supply chain to support the AI data center boom and reduce reliance on Chinese energy storage technologies.  March 6, 2026.

America’s Tech Ambitions Outrunning Industrial Realities 2/25/2026

America’s Tech Ambitions Outrunning Industrial Realities

Macdonald Amoah, Payne Institute Director Morgan Bazilian, and Fellow Jahara Matisek write about how American reindustrialization is constrained by structural weaknesses in three physical pillars: energy capacity, industrial supply chains, and technical workforce depth.  February 25, 2025.

How to Supercharge the US Military’s Arsenal 2/11/2026

How to Supercharge the US Military’s Arsenal

Payne Institute Director Morgan Bazilian and Fellow Jahara Matisek write about how with more capital-sensitive procurement policies, deeper AI integration, and smoother allied co-production, the US defense industrial base can make a serious comeback.  February 11, 2026.

The Hidden Bottleneck of AI Data Centers: Water 12/17/2025

The Hidden Bottleneck of AI Data Centers: Water

Payne Institute Director Morgan Bazilian and Brandon N. Owens write about how electricity enables AI growth, but water constraints are emerging as a decisive factor in data center siting and approval.  December 17, 2025.

AI’s Dirty Secret: Why Diesel Still Powers the Digital Age 12/17/2025

AI’s Dirty Secret: Why Diesel Still Powers the Digital Age

Payne Institute Director Morgan Bazilian and Brandon N. Owens write about how AI’s demand for data centers relies on diesel generators because outdated permitting and reliability rules make cleaner backup power too slow to deploy.  December 17, 2025.

The Drone Supply Chain War: Identifying the Chokepoints to Making a Drone 12.9.2025

The Drone Supply Chain War: Identifying the Chokepoints to Making a Drone

Payne Institute Communications Associate MacDonald Amoah, Director Morgan Bazilian, Fellow Jahara Matisek and Katrina Schweiker write about how every drone involved in the war in Ukraine depends on China. From palm-sized quadcopters guiding artillery to long-range loitering munitions, nearly every unmanned system on both sides contains materials and components that originate in Chinese factories and refineries. December 9, 2025.

Supply-chain delays, rising equipment prices threaten electricity grid 11/14/2025

Supply-chain delays, rising equipment prices threaten electricity grid

Payne Institute Director Morgan Bazilian and Kyri Baker write about how the crisis facing the U.S. power grid that can’t be solved simply by building more power lines, approving new power generation, or changing out grid software.  Supply-chain bottlenecks are taking years to clear, delaying projects, inflating costs and threatening reliability.  November 14, 2025.

AI’s Power Problem Could Launch a Nuclear Renaissance 11/7/2025

AI’s Power Problem Could Launch a Nuclear Renaissance

Brandon N. Owens and Payne Institute Director Morgan Bazilian write about how AI’s growth has outpaced America’s power grid. Nuclear energy could be the key to powering the AI era—if policy, permitting, and planning can keep pace. November 7, 2025.

Is AI blowing up our electricity prices? An expert weighs in. 11/7/2025

Is AI blowing up our electricity prices? An expert weighs in.

Payne Institute Director Morgan Bazilian contributed to this article about how Colorado and other states are seeing massive data center growth, and big buyers may squeeze out consumers.  “Electricity demand is no longer predictable — it is algorithmically spiked and AI-governed. Policy is lagging. Capital is stampeding.   November 7, 2025.

Rising AI Demand Is Fueling Higher Electricity Bills 10/22/2025

Rising AI Demand Is Fueling Higher Electricity Bills

Payne Institute Director Morgan Bazilian and Brandon N. Owens write about how as data centers multiply due to AI demand, volatility is socialized onto consumers while stability is privatized by corporate giants.  October 22, 2025.

The Future of AI Runs Through Indian Country 10/1/2025

The Future of AI Runs Through Indian Country

Payne Institute NAMES Research Associate Alex Brunson, Student Researcher Elise Previdi, NAMES Director Richard Luarkie, and Director Morgan Bazilian write about how the U.S. is projected to experience a significant increase in demand for power capacity to meet the needs of its rapidly expanding network of data centers.   These require unprecedented levels of energy and computational power, which can be supported by forming strategic partnerships with Native Nations and placing some of this high-tech infrastructure on Native American lands. October 1, 2025.

How Artificial Intelligence Is Rewriting the Energy Playbook 7/16/2025

How Artificial Intelligence Is Rewriting the Energy Playbook

Payne Institute Director Morgan Bazilian writes about how in our new artificial intelligence era, power isn’t just about computing abilities—it’s about who controls the energy grid.  Once engineered for steel mills and suburbs, the grid is now being reshaped by data centers—vast, humming fortresses of compute that guzzle electricity at levels reminiscent of heavy industry.  July 16, 2025. 

Pentagon’s AI metals program goes private in bid to boost Western supply deals 5/2/2025

Pentagon’s AI metals program goes private in bid to boost Western supply deals

Payne Institute Faculty Fellow Ian Lange contributed to this article about how a U.S. government-created artificial intelligence program that aims to predict the supply and price of critical minerals has been transferred to the control of a non-profit organization that is helping miners and manufacturers strike supply deals.  May 2, 2025.

The Smart Bet: Natural Gas for AI 4/16/2025

The Smart Bet: Natural Gas for AI

Payne Institute Director Morgan Bazilian writes about how natural gas for AI is emerging as the most practical near-term solution to meet soaring energy demands from data centers.  There is no doubt that the AI revolution is a big part of that paradigm change and excitement, but not all energy sources are equally suited to the task and timelines.   April 16, 2025.

The A.I. – Energy Revolution – Fueled by the White House and Rare Earth Metals! (and China!) 1/28/2025

The A.I. – Energy Revolution – Fueled by the White House and Rare Earth Metals! (and China!)

Payne Institute Director Morgan Bazilian contributes to this article about how a swath of the new US administration policies are being aimed at bolstering domestic production of critical minerals and strengthening the U.S. energy supply chain.  Much of that was done to reduce the U.S. foreign dependence on trade and boost energy security, but there’s a hidden beneficiary that investors should be paying close attention to: artificial intelligence (AI).  January 28, 2025.

Jihye Kim wins Scialog Award for funding of research in sustainable energy systems 11/20/2024

Jihye Kim wins Scialog Award for funding of research in sustainable energy systems

Payne Institute Faculty Fellow Jihye Kim, assistant professor of metallurgical and materials engineering, won the award as part of a multi-university team working on electrodeposition of nickel, cobalt.  Kim is part of a project titled “AI/ML-assisted Separation and Programmable Electrodeposition of Ni and Co.”  November 20, 2024.

How Artificial Intelligence Can Accelerate Geothermal Investment 4/29/2022

How Artificial Intelligence Can Accelerate Geothermal Investment

Payne Institute Faculty Fellow Sebnem Düzgün, Payne Institute Communications Associate Elsa Barron, and Payne Institute Director Morgan Bazilian write about how in the midst of the global energy transition, geothermal operations promise to provide stable, renewable energy, so why aren’t more investors taking the bait? One of the major roadblocks for geothermal investment is the high level of uncertainty that accompanies the subsurface resource.  April 29, 2022.

Big Data and AI in Advancing Geothermal Energy 12/13/2021

Big Data and AI in Advancing Geothermal Energy

Payne Institute Faculty Fellow H. Sebnem Düzgün looks at geothermal resources are subsurface and require costly discovery, exploration, development and operation processes. But mining engineers @ Colorado School of Mines are finding answers in Big Data and AI. Energy Resources Intelligence (ERI) is an Artificial Intelligence (AI)-based prediction system that supports investment decisions in geothermal. The ERI system produces accurate footprints of potential subsurface geothermal resources using deep-learning algorithms, multimodal big data analytics and statistical- and machine-learning (SML) methods, which lead to cost reductions in geothermal discovery and exploration.  December 13, 2021.  

BIG DATA AND THE ELECTRICITY SECTOR IN AFRICAN COUNTRIES January 14, 2020

BIG DATA AND THE ELECTRICITY SECTOR IN AFRICAN COUNTRIES

A number of “disruptive” data science and sensor technologies are creating new opportunities for addressing global challenges. The emergence of abundant computing power made possible the generation and storage of “big data,” enabled the explosion of sensors and networked devices, and powered major breakthroughs in the application of Artificial Intelligence, and Machine Learning techniques. These developments have led to a new trend best described as the seamless interplay between the physical and the digital world—also known as the Fourth Industrial Revolution (Industry 4.0) (Deloitte, 2015). This has paved the way for potential radical transformation of whole sectors and industries across the globe. January 14, 2020.

THE ROLE OF ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE IN ACHIEVING THE SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT GOALS January 13, 2020

THE ROLE OF ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE IN ACHIEVING THE SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT GOALS

Payne Institute Fellow Francesco Fuso-Nerini writes on the emergence of artificial intelligence (AI) and its progressively wider impact on many sectors requires an assessment of its effect on the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals. Using a consensus-based expert elicitation process, we find that AI can enable the accomplishment of 134 targets across all the goals, but it may also inhibit 59 targets. January 13, 2020.

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