Former Google CEO warns US is running out of electricity: Here’s why

Former Google CEO Eric Schmidt has warned that the United States needs 92 gigawatts of additional power to sustain rapid artificial intelligence growth, saying the country is “running out of electricity.”

In a video shared on X by an entrepreneur, Kevin Chin, Schmidt highlighted the rising energy demand from AI data centres, which operate around the clock and require intensive cooling systems.

His warning adds urgency to the growing debate over AI energy demand, US electricity supply and the future of data centre infrastructure.

AI demand surging in 2026

Schmidt’s comments echo concerns from other tech leaders. Social Capital founder Chamath Palihapitiya previously predicted electricity rates could double within five years without major reforms.

Amazon founder Jeff Bezos has suggested orbital data centres powered by space-based solar energy could become viable within two decades.

The statistics related to the electricity consumption of AI are quite revealing. Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory revealed that data centres accounted for 4.4% of US electricity in 2024. However, this may increase to 12% by 2028. Carnegie Mellon researchers predict that this increase may lead to a 25% rise in the cost of power generation for uninterrupted solar energy in space by 2030. PJM Interconnection customers will pay 16.6 billion dollars between 2025 and 2027 to obtain an electricity supply which they will need for future periods.

Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai confirmed Project Suncatcher in December 2025. The initiative will test orbital data centre prototypes until 2027 to develop continuous solar power systems for space. Pichai described it as a moonshot, similar in ambition to Waymo.