Units of power representing capacity to do work. Each step represents a 1,000x increase: Watt (W) – A single light bulb. Kilowatt (kW) – A typical home's peak demand (5-10 kW). Megawatt (MW) – A small town or large building (1,000 kW). Gigawatt (GW) – A major power plant or the entire demand of a million homes (1,000 MW). Modern AI data centers operate at the gigawatt scale, requiring power equivalent to major cities.
Discussed in Chapter 4 of This Is Server Country