CERAWEEK-US wind and solar development still has much room to grow for data centers, Microsoft executive says

NEW YORK, March 12 (Reuters) - U.S. wind and solar development still has significant room for expansion to power data centers, particularly in the Midwest wind corridor and sunny southwest, Microsoft VP of Energy Bobby Hollis told Reuters at the CERAWeek energy conference in Houston on Wednesday.

The quick proliferation of Big Tech's energy-intensive data centers to expand AI and cloud technologies is rattling the long-stagnant U.S. power industry, pushing the country's power consumption to new highs and raising questions about whether carbon-free renewable electricity will be supplanted with gas-fired power.

"We still think there is a very long road ahead that keeps renewables an important part of the mix in the places where that makes sense," said Hollis.