The AI boom is quickly reaching the physical limits of grid capacity and thermal dissipation. The electric grid is stretched as ever, causing longer connection waits for AI data centers, and conventional air and liquid cooling systems struggle to meet the demands of rapidly growing facilites.
On July 22, 2026, a transmission line fault in Ashburn, Virginia—the heart of the world’s largest data center cluster—knocked more than 3 gigawatts of load off the grid in seconds. And it wasn’t the first time. Two years earlier, a single failed surge arrester dropped roughly 60 Virginia facilities and 1,500 megawatts at once. No…
