I’m sitting two miles from Centrica to my west and two miles to Slough to my north. Centrica controls the supply of gas and it looks like the data centres of Buckinghamshire, Bedfordshire and down the M4 corridor are going to need a lot more poser than the electricity can deliver any time soon.
The proposed Quest Park Data Centre Campus is looking to build a gas power station because it cannot hook into the electricity grid for 7 or 8 years. If I was working for Centrica (my partner was its pension manager) then I’d be very happy with my employee stock options.
While America spent last week telling its governors it no longer wanted data centers on its doorstep (or its drain on its coveted power resources ) , Britain hasn’t yet had the backlash against what makes AI happen.
Here there is a big question for Government. Are we behind the States and will we turn against Data Centres and our AI? Or will we find the likes our technology, the cutting edge of the West. Deep Mind was British till we sold it to America.
The East isn’t showing any sign on reigning back on AI development and China may soon overtake what’s happened in California.
I agree with Dan Tomlinson. The UK success story for AI, pivots on our enthusiasm. We have the power, do we have the will to lead?
Dan Tomlinson, the Government’s growth minister said it was a mistake to “assume the same battle lines will be drawn here”. Britain can avoid a “big polarising debate on data centres” and ensure that construction continues as “essential infrastructure”.
So where does our enthusiasm come from? I think we all know that most of us spend a lot of our day at a keyboard and most of that time consulting with AI one way or another. We in the pension industry , more than most, need our customers to understand where their money is going and what they can expect at the other end by way of pension.
Not only should we be reliant on AI , we should be funding its operation and the power that it needs. That means money in our power industry, especially renewables and gas which we have a plenty, the former in Scotland and the latter in the north sea. We have gas powered powered station such as Drax (Centrica) and we have Europe’s biggest farm of data centers in Slough. We are even pioneering the import of excess energy from Iceland’s thermal sources.
I have some skin in this game, writing on a computer , consuming power to indulge in conversing with AI and enjoying this while gazing out to the world’s largest inhabited castle- more than 100o years old!
