Still talking about coal-based power generation … Last Spring, we warned that the growth of AI imperiled Scope 2 climate goals for pretty much everyone. Bloomberg wrote about it just before Thanksgiving – with more urgency:
“… the surprising growth in power consumption led by data centers, combined with Republican electoral victories, has some utilities delaying the retirement of coal-burning plants and planning a massive buildout of natural gas generation…
[Andy DeVries, an analyst for CreditSights Inc] said, ‘It just comes out to math. If these data center demand figures are anywhere near realistic, you don’t have the ability to retire coal plants.’
… Ryan Sweezey, director of power and renewables for Wood Mackenzie, said in an interview, ‘If a utility has a corporate net-zero target, and it’s not tied to some state law, it’s really not worth the paper it’s written on.’”
This is detrimental to power customers that expected Scope 2 emissions reductions at a company level as well as embedded in compensation plans. It also poses a conundrum for companies that plan to lean on AI in solving climate challenges.
Members can learn more about identifying a broad range of potential climate risks from our checklist Identifying & Updating Climate Risks and Uncertainties. Members can also track companies that are changing their climate commitments.
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