WASHINGTON — The North American Electric Reliability Corporation warned Thursday that surging electricity demand from AI data centers threatens grid reliability across several US regions, urging faster investment in generation and transmission.

The warning came in an assessment tied to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission's ongoing review of how large computing loads connect to the power system. NERC found that data center growth in Virginia, Texas and Ohio was outpacing the addition of new supply and transmission capacity.

The assessment followed months of local disputes over the water use, land footprint and energy demands of hyperscale facilities operated by Amazon, Microsoft and Google. Utility operators, including PJM Interconnection, have reported record load-growth forecasts driven largely by AI workloads.

NERC recommended that regional grid operators accelerate interconnection reviews and require large loads to help manage peak demand. A FERC spokesperson said the commission would consider the findings as it weighs new rules governing how quickly data centers can connect and what reliability obligations they must meet.

"The pace of demand growth is now the defining challenge for grid planners," a NERC spokesperson said. Coordination between developers, utilities and regulators would determine whether reliability standards held through the next several summers.