Newfound power demand created by the artificial intelligence boom has led to a mammoth investment in energy infrastructure across the U.S.
Schneider Electric announced Tuesday that it plans to spend $700M in the sector through 2027. The money will be used for “smart factory transformations” at eight facilities across North Carolina, Texas, Massachusetts, Tennessee, Ohio and Missouri.
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The outlay is the largest single investment in Schneider’s 135-plus-year history, bringing it to more than $1B in spending this decade. The move is also expected to create roughly 1,000 jobs.
“We stand at an inflection point for the technology and industrial sectors in the U.S., driven by incredible AI growth and unprecedented energy demand,” Schneider President of North America Operations Aamir Paul said in a statement.
“To lead the transformation ahead, we must be agile and act now to advance ambitious digitalization and efficiency goals to make an impact for generations to come.”
The investment comes as more multinational companies announce moves to the U.S. amid a broad reshoring trend, Ruben Llanes, CEO of Schneider Electric’s digital grid business, told The Dallas Morning News.
“From Schneider Electric’s perspective, obviously, the billion dollars[-plus] since 2020 that we’ve put into the space, I think that that is maybe a microcosm of what we’re seeing in other industries as well. So I expect that to continue,” Llanes told the outlet.
“We like to say that we are the most local of global companies. And so, having ... nearby manufacturing is certainly part of our strategy.”
The infrastructure investment also follows an enormous wave of power-hungry data center development over the past five years, also driven by the rise of AI. Land that already has access to necessary power and infrastructure has become scarce as data center power requirements grow from dozens of megawatts to hundreds.
Data centers are forecast to account for up to 12% of all U.S. electricity demand by 2028, up from about 4% now, according to a Berkeley Lab report.
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