Electricity is now holding back growth across the global economy

A Lanka Electricity Company (LECO) worker carries out maintenance work on an electric pole in Badulla on Dec 12, 2025. The positive effects of electrification on growth holds true across geographies – from India and China to most countries in Africa – and across time, from the late 19th century to today. Typically, the richer you are, the more electricity you consume. — AFP

The chip equipment maker ASML Holding NV is so crucial that a swing in its fortunes can sway the Dutch economy and the global development of artificial intelligence.

Now one of the company’s biggest growth plans – building a new campus that will employ as many as 20,000 people in the country’s Eindhoven region – depends on whether or not it can get an electricity connection.