Managing Data Center Uncertainty Part II — Phantom Data Centers: How Strategic Opacity Drives Overbuild
AI developers are inflating power demand with phantom data centers—projects that exist on paper but never connect. Utilities build for the illusion, regulators approve the excess, and ratepayers bear the cost. Increased transparency can break the cycle.
The Electricity Customer Bill of Rights Part I: A Framework for Infrastructure-Scale Electric Demand
The AI economy needs electricity, but customers should not subsidize its growth. This series proposes an Electricity Customer Bill of Rights to protect affordability, reliability, transparency, communities, and fair cost allocation while enabling responsible infrastructure-scale demand.
Brandon Owens
The Utility-AI Leadership Edge Part III: How CFOs Can Fund the AI-Driven Grid Buildout Without Leaving Customers Behind
Utility CFOs must fund unprecedented grid growth from AI, data centers, electrification, and resilience needs while protecting affordability. The winners will use CIAC, large-load tariffs, flexibility, and disciplined cost allocation to build trust and avoid shifting costs to customers.
Hannah Kaplan
China’s Tungsten Controls Expose a Semiconductor Chokepoint
WF6, a critical semiconductor gas, remains available despite reports of Japanese production exits. Yet China-linked tungsten feedstock controls, price spikes, concentrated supply, and 18–24-month qualification cycles expose a deeper bottleneck AI-driven chip demand cannot quickly solve.
Morgan Bazilian
