Utilities turn to AI to manage rising power demand — from AI

Utility Dive · Marlene Wilden · 2026-10-22 12:15 UTC

Applications include maintenance prioritization and demand forecasting, but AI outputs that are uneven, or those that can’t be audited, constrain broader deployment. “Most utilities could not reconstruct what an AI system read, what it did and why,” one expert told Utility Dive.

As electricity demand from artificial intelligence surges, the power sector is looking to the same technology for new ways to plan and maintain the grid more efficiently.

The utility industry is a long way from allowing large language models to take action affecting physical infrastructure, executives say. For now, most AI deployments in the sector are niche tools designed to support human decision-making on topics like load forecasting and vegetation management.

Barriers to broader utilization include uncertainty over what to do with AI outputs that are uneven or that can’t be audited in a highly regulated sector with strict safety and reliability standards.

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