The surge in electricity demand from power-hungry data centres may complicate US President Biden’s goal to decarbonise the power sector by 2035.

Driven by the adoption of technologies such as generative artificial intelligence, the surge in demand has been under discussion by U.S. Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm and representatives from big technology companies. And they’ve been asked to invest in new, climate-friendly power generation.

Granholm says the administration has proposed that companies band together to make use of small modular reactors for nuclear energy, simultaneously placing orders to reduce costs. According to a report from the Electric Power Research Institute, data centres could use up to 9% of total electricity generated in the U.S. by the end of the decade, more than doubling their current consumption.