Svmuu News: The AI boom has caused a sharp surge in electricity demand from data centers across the United States, leading to persistently rising electricity prices in many areas, with some regions even issuing power outage warnings. To alleviate the power supply crisis, the U.S. Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) on the 18th directed regional grid operators to consider new agreements to accelerate the grid connection of large electricity consumers, such as data centers. The commission also stated that, moving forward, it will no longer proactively consider environmental impacts under the National Environmental Policy Act when drafting regulations. According to Data Center Map, there are currently more than 4,000 operational data centers in the U.S., with a large number more in the planning or construction stages. However, the pace of data center construction far outstrips the rate at which new power plants come online. Coupled with slow progress in connecting these facilities to the grid, major U.S. tech giants are doing everything they can to secure power allocations for their data centers. Statistics from the Electric Power Research Institute show that data centers currently account for about 5% of total U.S. electricity demand, a figure that is projected to rise to approximately 20% by 2035. (CCTV Finance)