Alphabet Inc’s Google unit is partnering with the largest electrical grid operator in North America, PJM Interconnection, to roll out artificial intelligence technologies aimed at getting new power supplies connected faster, the company said on Thursday. The collaboration is the first time AI would be used to comprehensively manage an interconnection queue. Electricity demand has been rising as Big Tech builds more data centers to train and deploy artificial intelligence. “The industry has been talking about building smarter grids for well over a decade, and now with AI, we have a real opportunity to turn discussion into action,” Amanda Peterson Corio, Google’s data center energy lead, said at a press conference. Wait times have grown to historic lengths in recent years for connecting the country’s grids to new electricity supplies generated from sources like wind, solar and natural gas. Those delays have worsened an electricity supply crunch in many parts of the country, pushing up power bills and raising the risk of blackouts, as old power plants retire faster than new supplies connects. Google, in partnership with the Alphabet-backed Tapestry, says it can help eliminate at least some of the wait by using artificial intelligence to synthesize information and automate parts of the review and planning processes for projects in line to connect to PJM.

Full story : Google AI Tools to Optimize Connections to Biggest U.S. Grid.