In an age of energy-hungry data centers, countries around the world have raced to install solar panels and wind turbines. One unexpected bottleneck: aging electricity grids that can’t handle the power. In the U.S., decades-old transmission lines have been blamed for hindering the rollout of new energy projects. Meanwhile, China’s rollout of ultrahigh-voltage transmission lines is now seen as giving it an edge in the artificial-intelligence race. But it didn’t build the transmission lines needed to move all that clean energy around.

Source: Wall Street Journal December 28, 2025 14:03 UTC