Get all your news in one place.

100's of premium titles.
One app.

Get all your news in one place.

100's of premium titles. One news app.

Fortune

Nick Lichtenberg

Utility CEO on the data center crunch: America's 'check engine light' is on and 'no one's going to pay attention until it breaks down'

Calvin Butler Exelon Diane Brady Fortune San Francisco

Calvin Butler, President and CEO, Exelon (Credit: Fortune)

The rapid proliferation of artificial intelligence and data centers is pushing the U.S. electrical grid into uncharted territory, prompting one of the nation’s top utility executives to issue a stark warning to regulators: The system is flashing warning signs that can no longer be ignored.

Calvin Butler, CEO of Exelon, the nation’s largest utility company by customer count, compared the current state of the U.S. energy grid to a vehicle being driven to the brink of failure, in conversation with Fortune‘s Executive Editorial Director Diane Brady at the Fortune Brainstorm AI conference in San Francisco.

Sign up to read this article

Read news from 100's of titles, curated specifically for you.

Already a member? Sign in here

Top stories on inkl right now

Tensions Between Russia and NATO Keep Escalating. France Now Tested an Updated Nuclear Missile.

Tensions Between Russia and NATO Keep Escalating. France Now Tested an Updated Nuclear Missile.

The exercise involved a submarine-launched ballistic missile capable to carrying a nuclear head.

International Business Times

Veteran conservative lawyer quits Trump’s interior department and warns of ‘assault on the rule of law’

Veteran conservative lawyer quits Trump’s interior department and warns of ‘assault on the rule of law’

John Murdock had been working for the agency for 18 years and his resignation comes during an exodus of longtime federal workers and scientists

The Guardian - US

Hurricane tracker: Check latest updates on tropical storm in gulf, cyclone, typhoon Nolo, Hurricane Rachel

Hurricane tracker: Check latest updates on tropical storm in gulf, cyclone, typhoon Nolo, Hurricane Rachel

Hurricane tracker: Nolo is no longer a hurricane. The powerful storm remains about as strong, but it changed names to a typhoon as it crossed the international dateline in the Pacific Ocean. Hurricane Rachel continued heading westward on a path away from Mexico.

The Economic Times

First Thing: ‘Deranged’ and ‘dangerous’ Trump calls for Iran to strike US cities amid historic ratings low

First Thing: ‘Deranged’ and ‘dangerous’ Trump calls for Iran to strike US cities amid historic ratings low

California’s leaders attack president after he suggests Iran could ‘take out’ Los Angeles or San Diego

The Guardian - UK

One subscription that gives you access to news from hundreds of sites

Already a member? Sign in here

Schools blockaded as tens of thousands of protesters take to streets in France

Schools blockaded as tens of thousands of protesters take to streets in France

Students, staff and parents march in cities including Marseille and Lyon, while up to 40,000 expected in Paris

The Guardian - UK

Germany arrests former intelligence chief over alleged spying

Germany arrests former intelligence chief over alleged spying

August Hanning served as president of Federal Intelligence Service from 1998 to 2005

The Guardian - UK

Related Stories

Top stories on inkl right now

Tensions Between Russia and NATO Keep Escalating. France Now Tested an Updated Nuclear Missile.

Tensions Between Russia and NATO Keep Escalating. France Now Tested an Updated Nuclear Missile.

The exercise involved a submarine-launched ballistic missile capable to carrying a nuclear head.

International Business Times

Veteran conservative lawyer quits Trump’s interior department and warns of ‘assault on the rule of law’

Veteran conservative lawyer quits Trump’s interior department and warns of ‘assault on the rule of law’

John Murdock had been working for the agency for 18 years and his resignation comes during an exodus of longtime federal workers and scientists

The Guardian - US

Hurricane tracker: Check latest updates on tropical storm in gulf, cyclone, typhoon Nolo, Hurricane Rachel

Hurricane tracker: Check latest updates on tropical storm in gulf, cyclone, typhoon Nolo, Hurricane Rachel

Hurricane tracker: Nolo is no longer a hurricane. The powerful storm remains about as strong, but it changed names to a typhoon as it crossed the international dateline in the Pacific Ocean. Hurricane Rachel continued heading westward on a path away from Mexico.

The Economic Times

First Thing: ‘Deranged’ and ‘dangerous’ Trump calls for Iran to strike US cities amid historic ratings low

First Thing: ‘Deranged’ and ‘dangerous’ Trump calls for Iran to strike US cities amid historic ratings low

California’s leaders attack president after he suggests Iran could ‘take out’ Los Angeles or San Diego

The Guardian - UK

One subscription that gives you access to news from hundreds of sites

Already a member? Sign in here

Schools blockaded as tens of thousands of protesters take to streets in France

Schools blockaded as tens of thousands of protesters take to streets in France

Students, staff and parents march in cities including Marseille and Lyon, while up to 40,000 expected in Paris

The Guardian - UK

Germany arrests former intelligence chief over alleged spying

Germany arrests former intelligence chief over alleged spying

August Hanning served as president of Federal Intelligence Service from 1998 to 2005

The Guardian - UK

Our Picks

Does your sleep tracker get it right? A Pittsburgh neuroscientist weighs in

On a typical night, I go to bed wearing a tracking watch on one wrist and another type of tracker on the other wrist. Then I compare their sleep findings while I drink my morning coffee.

The Conversation

There's A Reason Taxi Cabs Are Almost Always Yellow

Yellow taxis are easy to spot in traffic, but the color's history goes far beyond simple visibility.

How ‘technoference’ can disrupt parent-child connections

Have you ever been telling someone a story when their phone lights up, and their eyes flicker toward their device?

The Conversation

Holding Lightning by Emily Lordi review – an intimate portrait of Whitney Houston

An empathetic biography of the the singer recasts her tumultuous later career as a triumph of self-expression

The Guardian - UK

Brian May says Queen are retiring from live tours: ‘Maybe 50 years is enough’

Rock guitarist suggested creating an interactive experience for fans similar to the ‘Abba Voyage’ show

The Independent UK

"Lanterns" finds its power in fear

To fulfill his destiny, John Stewart embraces what he was trained to reject — and so should we

Fourteen days free

Download the app

One app. One membership.
100+ trusted global sources.

Download on the AppStore

Get it on Google Play