Google thinks AI can untangle the electrical grid’s bureaucracy

There has been a lot of angst among tech companies and policymakers about a looming power shortage on the grid due in no small part to the rise in AI. But what’s less known is that there are terawatts of new capacity waiting to be approved for connection to the grid, and unknotting the bureaucracy could go a long way to solving the problem. All grid operators in the U.S. face the similar backlogs, but few are as significant as that of PJM, which manages the flow of electricity in the mid-Atlantic states, Ohio, and eastern Kentucky. Now, Google and PJM are hoping that AI can help speed things along. The two organizations announced Thursday a partnership, along with Alphabet “moonshot” Tapestry, to develop AI models to streamline key parts of the application process on both sides of the transaction. They’ll get assistance with data verification and submit projects through new, centralized planning tools, which will also help PJM analyze how best to integrate variable power sources lik ... Read full article.