In a Tuesday interview with CNBC’s Jim Cramer, Aaron Jagdfeld, CEO of generator company Generac, warned that the pressure on the power grid is only going to increase, burdened by a massive crop of new data centers and more severe weather.
“This has become a massively critical discussion point,” Jagdfeld said. “This is only going to get worse.”
Jagdfeld described how outages affect homeowners, businesses and other institutions, and said during the first nine months of 2024, 1.2 billion hours were lost to outages in the U.S. Commercial and industrial-type products make up 40% of Generac’s business, he continued, such as backup for manufacturing plants, distribution centers, hospitals and data centers.
Although the U.S. is adding more solar and wind power, Jagdfeld noted that these sources are “intermittent by their nature,” and the increased demand for technology like artificial intelligence and electric vehicles will continue to weigh on the grid.
This year’s hurricane season has brought several major storms so far, including Hurricane Helene, which devastated parts of the southeast two weeks ago. Another deadly storm, Milton, hit Category 5 status on Tuesday and is predicted to ravage Florida’s Tampa Bay region on Wednesday. It could be the most powerful hurricane to hit the area in 100 years, and some analysts say Milton has the potential to cost $175 billion in damages.
“I think the science is clear, right. I mean, the air temperatures are warming, the water temperatures are warming,” Jagdfeld said. “We can debate what caused it, but I think the reality of it is the, the outcome is more extreme weather.”