News Summary

• utilities say they’ll need two or three times more electricity within a few years to power massive new data centers.
• But the challenges — some say the impossibility — of building new power plants to meet that demand has set off alarm bells for lawmakers, policymakers and regulators.
• One burning question is whether the forecasts are based on data center projects that may never get built.
• The scrutiny comes as analysts warn of the risk of an artificial intelligence investment bubble that’s ballooned tech stock prices and could burst.