From the article: “students use software called Vatic to model electricity usage and pricing on the Texas grid, particularly as demand soars with the growth of energy-sucking AI data centers.”
There’s a similar problem for which the same type of analysis is applicable. There are places in the Western U.S. where homeowners and farmers compete for ground water. As demand increases, the water table decreases and wells must be drilled deeper and deeper to find water. Larger and larger agricultural businesses can afford to, and are willing to, drill deeper than households and even whole residential communities, resulting in further decrease in the water table. The OR problem is how to balance the societal need for residential water with the profit oriented demands of agribusiness.
From the article: “students use software called Vatic to model electricity usage and pricing on the Texas grid, particularly as demand soars with the growth of energy-sucking AI data centers.”
There’s a similar problem for which the same type of analysis is applicable. There are places in the Western U.S. where homeowners and farmers compete for ground water. As demand increases, the water table decreases and wells must be drilled deeper and deeper to find water. Larger and larger agricultural businesses can afford to, and are willing to, drill deeper than households and even whole residential communities, resulting in further decrease in the water table. The OR problem is how to balance the societal need for residential water with the profit oriented demands of agribusiness.