President Trump’s executive order declaring a national energy emergency signals the fast-track production of more domestic energy. It also promises to generate an equally significant benefit that wasn’t even cited in the EO: Higher energy production will turbocharge our nation’s leadership in artificial intelligence by delivering the huge power supplies AI demands.
Do not underestimate how critically important it is for America to lead the global AI race, especially as China, a potent rival, invests massive resources on AI. The president’s proactive energy strategy can help the U.S. supercharge its AI capabilities and team up with our strategic partners to integrate AI into critical industries and markets. This will prove particularly critical as human-level AI emerges within the next decade.
Already, AI’s rise has triggered breakthroughs in automation, machine learning, and data analytics that are revolutionizing the manufacturing, finance, healthcare, transportation, retail and other major industries – not to mention the tech industry itself.
The president’s EO recognizes that our AI future rests on a significant increase in reliable, scalable, abundant, affordable, and clean energy, notably natural gas and, soon, nuclear. Simply consider this: Open AI’s chatbot, ChatGPT, consumes 3 watt-hours of energy per query – or 10 times more energy than a Google search query. That’s a lot of energy, considering that a common double A battery contains about 3.9 watt-hours.
My friend David Blackmon, a Texas-based public policy analyst and consultant, cites a new study from the Norwegian research firm Rystad Energy that estimates the power needs from new U.S. data computing center installations alone will balloon by 1,000% from the end of 2024 through 2035. That represents a 10-20% increase in electricity demand every year through 2030.
An Energy Department study released in December figures that data centers could account for as much as 12% of the nation’s electricity demand by 2028, tripling their load from 2023. To realize that power need, Energy Secretary Chris Wright acknowledges that the nation will need “to work at warp speed” to remain competitive in AI and keep the lights on.
Administration officials expect their pragmatic energy stance to open up American energy options will lead to new natural gas generation and more nuclear power, among other power-generating impacts. In January, Chevron announced a partnership with GE Vernova to build natural-gas powered generators that will be co-located with data centers across in the Southeast, the Midwest and West. It cited early actions by the administration for setting “the critical foundation to encourage investment leveraging America’s energy abundance to enable America’s AI leadership.” This venture also will use carbon capture and storage in the future, as well as renewable energy elements as practicable.
These are real, large investments that create jobs and economic development that states are competing to land by making it easier to site, permit, build and operate these long-term facilities. In Louisiana, Facebook and Instagram parent company Meta announced a $10 billion investment to build its largest data center – which will stretch more than a mile across – and will require new power generation to be added to the state’s grid.
Gov. Jeff Landry, who co-founded the Governors Coalition for Energy Security with the goal of streamlining permitting and facilitating smart energy policy that contributes to state and national energy security, declared it “a new chapter” for Louisiana that will help revitalize the northeastern part of the state.
There is a critical distinction in how Louisiana’s government got involved in this project with a huge energy component. Instead of dictating what can or cannot be done, the state legislative and executive branches worked together to make this project happen with the express goal of economic development. That allowed Meta to work with its partners including the state’s main utility to plan quickly and commit. With so much energy involved, this is a smart approach to ensure that the entire state of Louisiana has the affordable, reliable energy it needs for families, farmers and small businesses, as well as enormous ones such as Meta.
This has traditionally been how the government plays its role supporting private sector investments – facilitating rather than prescribing, enabling rather than hobbling.
The second Trump Administration – recognizing the fact that traditional fuels which provide 83% of our nation’s energy will remain a dominant part of our global energy mix – has expanded oil and natural gas development on public lands, signaled a cutback in unnecessary, costly regulations that delay needed energy projects, promoted energy education, and established the National Energy Dominance Council to ensure energy policies are grounded in reality.
As we bolster our AI capabilities by providing the electricity required, the president’s approach to energy will also help prevent the power brownouts and blackouts that have more than doubled since 2016. These outages have become all too familiar during peak weather conditions when extreme weather events strike more frequently.
By improving what has been the declining reliability of our aging electric grid and increasing power production, we can generate reliable power instead of no longer taking that dependability for granted.
This realistic energy path can improve our environment, meet our economic needs, and provide cleaner, always-on energy. It will keep the U.S. economy as the world’s strongest with one of the best standards of living.
That’s a far better place than the mirage utopias that certain groups would have us believe can be achieved by taking energy options off the table. Just ask residents of California, New York, Germany, or the UK, where prices are on the rise again.
Our nation is turning away from that bleak future and back toward common sense and practical policies. That’s a strong and welcome sign for affordability, environmental responsibility, reliability and – above all – prosperity.
This article was originally published by RealClearEnergy and made available via RealClearWire.
