比特币矿场建设者可以欢呼了。本周，美国能源部（DoE）宣布将提供52.5亿美元资金，其中包括19亿美元联邦资金和33.5亿美元配套资金，以支持全美数十项电网改造工程，预计可释放额外23吉瓦的电力容量。该计划涵盖26个州的31个具体项目，是能源部“通过加速重新架线及其他关键先进输电技术升级实现快速增容”（SPARK）计划的一部分，相关联邦资金由“电网韧性与创新伙伴关系”（GRIP）项目提供。山姆大叔还真是热衷于 acronyms。美国能源部长克里斯·赖特在一份声明中表示：“这些投资将让我们现有基础设施发挥更大作用，让更多电力通过电网输送，并有助于提供经济、可靠且安全的电力，为美国未来数十年的繁荣提供动力。”这些项目并非新增发电能力，而是通过对超过1,500英里的输电线路进行重新架设或重建，并在美国2.1万英里的电网基础设施上部署传感器、电力潮流控制装置和分析工具等电网增强技术（GETs），来释放更多容量。此外，参与上述项目的机构还将在自然灾害多发地区开展工作 improves提高电网韧性，并降低野火风险。该机构称，这项计划将有助于提高电网可靠性，并降低约1亿美国人的用电成本。用前参议员米特·罗姆尼的话说：“企业就是人，我的朋友。”当然，比特币矿场也都是由企业运营的。尽管该计划有助于缓解数据中心运营商在人工智能热潮中牟利时面临的电力供应瓶颈，但力度可能仍然不够。
Bit barn builders can rejoice, because this week the US Department of Energy (DoE) announced $5.25 billion — including $1.9 billion of federal funds and $3.35 billion in cost-share funding — to support dozens of grid improvements across the nation expected to unlock an additional 23 gigawatts of capacity. The program, which spans 31 specific projects in 26 states, is part of the department’s Speed to Power through Accelerated Reconductoring and other Key Advanced Transmission Technology Upgrades (SPARK) initiative with federal funding made available under the Grid Resilience and Innovation Partnerships (GRIP) program. Uncle Sam sure does love his acronyms. “These investments will get more out of the infrastructure we already have, move more electricity across the grid, and help deliver affordable, reliable, and secure power that will fuel American prosperity for decades to come,” US Secretary of Energy Chris Wright said in a statement. Rather than bringing new power generation capacity online, the projects aim to unlock additional capacity by reconductoring or rebuilding more than 1,500 miles of transmission lines and deploying grid-enhancing technologies (GETs), like sensors, power flow control devices, and analytical tools across 21,000 miles of American grid infrastructure. Additionally, participants working in areas prone to natural disasters will work to improve grid resilience and mitigate wildfire risks. The agency claims the program will help improve reliability and lower electricity costs for roughly 100 million Americans. And, to quote former Senator Mitt Romney, “corporations are people, my friend.” And, of course, bit barns are run by corporations. While the program should help to address power constraints faced by datacenter operators as they attempt to cash in on the AI boom, it may not be enough. Earlier this month, financial services biz Moody’s warned that the pace of datacenter construction exceeds the speed at which the US grid can add the required capacity. By 2030, Moody's estimates US datacenter electricity consumption will reach 426 TWh, nearly double the 2025 figure. This reality has prompted a flurry of investment in alternative energy technologies, including small modular reactors, geothermal generation, and even the recommissioning of aging nuclear plants. Meanwhile, chipmakers like Nvidia are pushing hard for smarter, more connected, and by extension more efficient datacenters that can release capacity back to the grid when necessary. ®
本月早些时候，金融服务公司穆迪警告称，数据中心的建设速度已超过美国电网增加所需容量的速度。穆迪估计，到2030年，美国数据中心的电力消耗将达到426太瓦时，几乎是2025年水平的两倍。这一现实促使各方对替代能源技术展开大量投资，包括小型模块化反应堆、地热发电，甚至重新启用老旧的核电站。与此同时，英伟达等芯片制造商正大力推动建设更智能、互联性更强、进而更高效的数据中心，以便在必要时将容量释放回电网。®
Bit barn builders can rejoice, because this week the US Department of Energy (DoE) announced $5.25 billion — including $1.9 billion of federal funds and $3.35 billion in cost-share funding — to support dozens of grid improvements across the nation expected to unlock an additional 23 gigawatts of capacity. The program, which spans 31 specific projects in 26 states, is part of the department’s Speed to Power through Accelerated Reconductoring and other Key Advanced Transmission Technology Upgrades (SPARK) initiative with federal funding made available under the Grid Resilience and Innovation Partnerships (GRIP) program. Uncle Sam sure does love his acronyms. “These investments will get more out of the infrastructure we already have, move more electricity across the grid, and help deliver affordable, reliable, and secure power that will fuel American prosperity for decades to come,” US Secretary of Energy Chris Wright said in a statement. Rather than bringing new power generation capacity online, the projects aim to unlock additional capacity by reconductoring or rebuilding more than 1,500 miles of transmission lines and deploying grid-enhancing technologies (GETs), like sensors, power flow control devices, and analytical tools across 21,000 miles of American grid infrastructure. Additionally, participants working in areas prone to natural disasters will work to improve grid resilience and mitigate wildfire risks. The agency claims the program will help improve reliability and lower electricity costs for roughly 100 million Americans. And, to quote former Senator Mitt Romney, “corporations are people, my friend.” And, of course, bit barns are run by corporations. While the program should help to address power constraints faced by datacenter operators as they attempt to cash in on the AI boom, it may not be enough. Earlier this month, financial services biz Moody’s warned that the pace of datacenter construction exceeds the speed at which the US grid can add the required capacity. By 2030, Moody's estimates US datacenter electricity consumption will reach 426 TWh, nearly double the 2025 figure. This reality has prompted a flurry of investment in alternative energy technologies, including small modular reactors, geothermal generation, and even the recommissioning of aging nuclear plants. Meanwhile, chipmakers like Nvidia are pushing hard for smarter, more connected, and by extension more efficient datacenters that can release capacity back to the grid when necessary. ®