The AI data center boom is now a big and freewheeling American business story. According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, this quickly emerging industrial demand for power will help drive U.S. electricity generation to all-time highs not just this year but next year as well.

Just before midday on Monday, April 28, Claudia Blanco boarded a flight from Barcelona to Jerez de la Frontera, a small city in Spain’s southernmost region. Blanco, who is the chief innovation and artificial intelligence officer for GE Vernova’s Electrification Systems business, was looking forward to her week. Although her diary was crammed with meetings and deadlines, she was planning to work from her peaceful woodland home, just a 40-minute drive from Jerez’s airport.

The 2020s have a lot in common with the 1920s when it comes to the buildout of electrical power. Back then, grids were largely driven by coal, which was polluting, to be sure, but offered stability to big, national electrical systems with power plants that often ran uninterrupted for long periods of time. Then came hydropower, with its distant electrical power generators. Power engineers, trying to figure out how to transmit power from faraway places, developed an unusual machine called a synchronous condenser.

Everyone loves a vacation. But that’s the problem: The world’s holiday destinations are bursting at the seams with visitors. Workers at the Louvre in Paris recently went on strike, saying they were suffering from exhaustion.

Global electricity demand busted out of its slumber last year, largely attributed to factors such as industrialization, data centers, and electric vehicles, leaping forward by 4.3%. That’s more than twice the annual average of the past decade, according to the International Energy Agency.

Zigzagging across fields, within sight of the blink-and-you’ll-miss-it downtown of Hermleigh, Texas, the Pyron Wind Farm is typical of America’s wind power fleet: efficient, high-tech, and Texas-sized.

The peculiar machine described in the 1920 issue of GE Review — essentially a giant engine designed to produce no mechanical power — seems like nothing more than a charming relic from the early years of electrification.

Foundational repositories like the ArcGIS Living Atlas of the World and the NOAA’s World Weather Records serve as libraries rich with the critical data used to analyze trends and forecast possible futures by multiple industries across the world. As we head into electricity’s expansive golden age, our knowledge base requires a similar specialized collection: intelligence and fine detail on global power systems.

A high-rise Central Bank Tower under construction in Baghdad. A new port in Basra. A transborder road network that could be the next gateway between Asia and Europe. At construction sites across Iraq, cranes and backhoes are marking a new chapter in the country’s future: After a period of conflict and unrest, Iraq is moving forward to reclaim its economic potential.

April 2 marks the one-year anniversary of GE Vernova, a purpose-built innovation company dedicated to electrifying and decarbonizing the world’s energy system. Drawing on more than 130 years of experience tackling the world’s energy challenges, the company’s installed base produces about 25% of the world’s electricity, from wind and hydropower to gas-powered and grid solutions. The company built a solid foundation for a strong and sustainable future in its first year.