THU AM News: Efforts underway to address rising energy needs linked to data centers, AI; Baldwin touting bipartisan bill to require price disclosures in drug ads

— Researchers and industry are working to address the challenge of rising energy needs linked to AI and data centers amid concerns around environmental impacts and strain on the energy grid. 

UW-Madison’s Wisconsin Energy Institute recently hosted a discussion on this topic, which highlighted the soaring energy requirements linked to increased reliance on artificial intelligence. Machine learning is being used to analyze the avalanche of data being created every day, and Prof. Matt Sinclair said a “massive amount” of computing is needed to handle this task. 

Sinclair, an assistant professor of computer sciences at UW-Madison, highlighted the “exponential growth” in the size of AI models seen in recent years. 

“Because of that, we just can’t really run these workloads on any one computer. So we’re increasingly splitting them to run across more and more computers in parallel to answer these really complex questions,” he said, adding “this has had huge implications on energy consumption.” 

Until around 2018, about 2% of all energy consumption in the United States was attributed to data centers, Sinclair said. But since then, that has increased rapidly. By 2023, that percentage had more than doubled to 4.4%. By 2028, it’s expected that 7% to 12% of all U.S. energy consumption will go to data centers, he explained. 

While these data centers aren’t exclusively dedicated to AI, Sinclair said it’s largely fueling the increase. 

While some in the field are focused on designing more efficient hardware to reduce energy needs, such as specialized “accelerators” designed to handle AI processing, others are using existing technology designed for graphics processing for machine learning purposes. 

Tyler Huebner, a member of Google’s energy market development team for the central U.S. and a former commissioner for the state Public Service Commission, touched on Google’s “tensor processing units,” or TPU. These were developed by the company for neural network machine learning. 

Still, Sinclair said making more efficient machines alone won’t solve the problem, as users will just buy more of them. 

Other options include designing smaller AI software models, writing “really efficient code” to better handle the data workload, and even applying advanced cooling techniques such as mineral oil immersion. 

Huebner also discussed some of Google’s energy-related projects, ranging from scaled-up geothermal energy for a data center in Nevada to locating data centers alongside clean energy resources and small modular nuclear reactors. 

“We’ve signed an agreement with a company called Kairos Power to pilot and hopefully build up to 500 megawatts of small modular reactors that could be sited around the country,” Huebner said. 

Sinclair added: “The bottom line is, we’re going to have to do something.” 

The discussion comes in the wake of multiple major data center projects being announced in Wisconsin, including Microsoft’s planned $3 billion AI facility in Mount Pleasant and a 2,000-acre project in Port Washington. Microsoft also recently acquired land for a smaller data center cluster in Kenosha. 

Amy Barrilleaux, communications director for Clean Wisconsin, noted Microsoft’s installation will be the state’s largest electricity user when completed, with a power need equivalent to 300,000 homes. She compared that to adding an entire city’s worth of energy needs to the state over the next few years.

All of these projects are located within the service territory for We Energies, a subsidiary of WEC Energy Group, Barrilleaux noted. She added We Energies recently announced plans for a $2 billion natural gas plant project, tying it to the Microsoft project’s projected energy needs. The natural gas project has yet to be approved by the PSC, she said. 

She argued the utility company “doesn’t have a history of being a leader” on clean energy, with less than 3% of its energy mix currently coming from wind and solar. 

“This gas plant buildout has a lifespan of 30 years,” Barrilleaux said. “And we know we don’t have 30 years to have a bunch of new fossil fuel burning in Wisconsin, if we want to meet our climate goals.” 

In an emailed comment on Barrilleaux’s remarks, a spokesperson for WEC Energy Group pointed to the company’s plans to “transform our power generation fleet” with a balanced mix of wind, solar, energy storage and natural gas. 

“Our proposed natural gas generating facilities are an important step to ensure reliability for our customers during the transition to a cleaner energy future in Wisconsin,” the spokesperson said. “Now more than ever — it is critical for us to have quick-start gas plants available and running when the wind doesn’t blow and the sun doesn’t shine.” 

These plants will help the company meet “robust demand” along the I-94 corridor, the spokesperson said, noting they’re compliant with the grid operator’s reliability rules and help meet the need for more flexible energy resources. WEC Energy Group has also reduced emissions from electricity generation 54% from 2005 levels, and is investing $9 billion in new renewable energy by 2029. 

“Thanks to these investments in new solar, wind and battery storage, we will more than quadruple our carbon-free energy in the next five years,” the spokesperson said. 

Costa Samaras, director of the Scott Institute for Energy Innovation at Carnegie Mellon University, noted about 20% of electricity demand growth over the next 15 years is coming from AI and data centers. That’s more than buildings and industry, 15% each, but less than half that of cars, making up about half of the projected demand growth. 

“We have to figure out how to manage the data center electricity challenge, because that’s the small part of the electrification challenge,” Samaras said. “And if we can’t figure out that without increasing emissions, we’ve got no chance on cars, buildings and factories.” 

Watch the video

— U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin is touting a bipartisan federal bill that would require prescription drug advertisements to include price disclosures. 

The Madison Dem this week announced she and other senators have introduced the Drug-price Transparency for Consumers Act, arguing the change would “empower patients” and reduce consumer spending on medicines. 

The release cites a Government Accountability Office report showing prescription drugs advertised directly to consumers made up 58% of Medicare’s drug spending from 2016 to 2018. Of the industry’s $18 billion total spending during that period on direct-to-consumer drugs, $12 billion was focused on 39 drugs, the report shows. 

And four of the top 10 drugs with the highest cost to the Medicare program were also among the top 10 drugs for advertising spending: Humira, Eliquis, Keytruda and Lyra. 

The announcement also notes the pharmaceutical industry spends $6 billion in direct-to-consumer drug ads annually, with the average American seeing nine such advertisements every day. 

Baldwin argues these messages often drive patients to “the most expensive drugs, not the most effective ones,” and calls for more transparency. 

“I am proud to work with my Democratic and Republican colleagues to shed light on Big Pharma’s tricks to gouge Wisconsinites and help lower costs,” she said in a statement. 

See more in the release

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— State Superintendent Jill Underly urged the Legislature to invest more in public schools after the release of national math and reading scores, calling the Wisconsin results an “urgent wake-up call.” 

Senate Education Committee Chair John Jagler, R-Watertown, called Underly’s request for more funding “shameless.” 

The National Assessment of Educational Progress released the Nation’s Report Card evaluating reading and math scores for fourth and eighth-grade students. The Wisconsin results for each grade and subject weren’t significantly different from the national numbers, except in math, where Wisconsin eighth graders scored significantly higher than the national average. But most students were not at or above proficient levels, and the disparities between Black and white students continued to be the largest in the country. 

Underly has faced criticism after the Department of Public Instruction changed the standards for statewide tests, which previously aligned with the NAEP standards. That included lowering the threshold for what is considered proficient and changing terms used to describe student performance. 

Opponents have argued the changes mask poor performance, but Underly has defended them, saying they were made through a transparent process and will more accurately gauge student achievement. 

Overall, 42% of fourth graders scored at or above proficient in math, and 31% scored at or above proficient in reading. Thirty-seven percent of eighth graders scored at or above proficient, scoring 10 points higher than the national average. In reading, 31% of eighth graders scored at or above proficient. 

The disparities between Black and white students included:

  • Five percent of Black fourth graders were at or above proficient, compared to 51% of white fourth graders. In reading, 10% of Black fourth graders were at or above proficient, compared to 39% of white fourth graders. 
  • Seven percent of Black eighth graders were at or above proficient in math, compared to 45% of white eighth graders. In reading, 9% of Black eighth graders were at or above proficient, compared to 36% of white students. 

See more at WisPolitics

— The American Farm Bureau has tapped Polk County crop farmer Brad Olson for a one-year term on its board of directors, the Wisconsin Farm Bureau announced. 

The appointment was made this week during the American Farm Bureau Federation’s 106th Convention, according to the release. 

Olson and his wife Vicky, members of the Polk-Burnett Farm Bureau, farm more than 600 acres of crops near Fredric. He was elected president of the WFBF in 2023 and re-elected last year. 

See the release and listen to an earlier WisBusiness.com podcast with Olson. 

TOP STORIES
Wisconsin small businesses navigate higher egg prices 

Microsoft pays $34 million for Kenosha data center site 

Kohl’s reduces corporate roles, closes 27 stores in efficiency push 

TOPICS

AGRIBUSINESS 

– Stepping Stones of Dunn County expands local food access 

CONSTRUCTION 

– New proposals seek to advance Mayor Johnson’s Growing MKE housing plan 

ECONOMY 

– Wisconsin now ranks among 10 worst states for entrepreneurs, study says 

EDUCATION 

– Wisconsin again has widest gap in US for math, reading scores between white and Black students 

– St. Norbert recommends cutting 13 majors. More faculty cuts may be coming 

ENVIRONMENT 

– New $5.5M Grant Aims to Cut Fertilizer Use in Corn 

– Marquette University professor at forefront in defending clean water 

FOOD & BEVERAGE

– What up, dough? Molten Monkey pizza plays with flavors 

HEALTH CARE 

– ‘We’re feeling powerless’: Waupaca community rallies to oppose ThedaCare’s planned birthing unit closure 

– Aurora Health Care exiting its clinics at Walgreens stores 

MANAGEMENT 

– Center for Black Excellence taps former legislator to lead programming 

POLITICS 

– Trump administration rescinds freeze on federal grants, ending spending feud with Congress 

– Green Bay has earned $2.6 million in interest from ARPA funds. How has it been allocated? 

REAL ESTATE 

– Downtown high-rise starts construction soon. It’s leasing parking at a city-owned garage 

REGULATION 

– Oak Creek officials move forward with Buc-ee’s rezoning recommendation 

RETAIL 

– Kohl’s is reducing its corporate workforce by 10 percent, says fewer than 200 people are affected 

– Kohl’s cutting jobs, closing stores, adding a new CEO. What to know. 

PRESS RELEASES

See these and other press releases 

Lawrence University: $500K grant to fund collaboration between Lawrence, College of Menominee Nation

VARC: Named as finalist for Wisconsin Manufacturer of the Year

Farm Bureau Federation: Olson elected to American Farm Bureau board