Trump pledges fast-track for AI data center power plantshttps://www.axios.com/2025/01/23/trump-ai-power-plants-data-centers
President Trump said in a virtual address at the World Economic Forum on Thursday that his administration is going to give "rapid approvals" to AI companies looking to build power plants attached to their data centers.
Why it matters: This makes it clear that a motivation for his national energy emergency declaration is easing construction of new fossil fueled-power plants to serve AI data centers.
Driving the news: Trump said that many people want to build power plants, which is "going to be a very big thing," and intends to approve them under the emergency declaration "without having to go through years of waiting."
"We need double the energy we currently have in the United States for AI to really be as big as we want to have it because it'll be very competitive with China," Trump added.
Zoom in: He claimed that it was his idea of "building an electric generating plant right next to an existing plant as a separate building."
The idea of new plants that would directly fuel data centers, rather than connecting to the wider power grid is one that Chevron and Exxon are already exploring.
Between the lines: Data centers consume as much power as a small city, and as the AI boom and race with China continues, they will require even more resources.
AI's need for facilities, machines, and power has driven new spending on real estate, building materials, semiconductors and energy — and its continued growth will demand an astounding amount of energy to thrive.
How tech giants could turn AI data centers into power grid allieshttps://www.axios.com/2024/10/30/ai-data-centers-grid-power-demandTech and utility giants are backing a new project that envisions data centers becoming a benefit to power grids, not just a huge source of energy demand.
Why it matters: AI-fueled data center growth risks straining grids and making decarbonization harder.
Driving the news: Enter "DCFlex," led by the nonprofit Electric Power Research Institute, which aims to flip the script.
Google, Duke Energy, Nvidia, Texas and Midwest grid regulators, Southern Co. and other heavyweights are among the members.
"Flexible data center design and operation is a key strategy for accelerating AI development and realizing its benefits while minimizing costs, lowering carbon emissions, and enhancing system reliability," EPRI President and CEO Arshad Mansoor said in a statement.
The big picture: EPRI's David Porter sees opportunities for data centers to operate more flexibly and reduce their needs during peak demand periods.
That can mean using backup power onsite or even sending energy back to grids.
Another plan is more use of renewables and low-carbon fuels to replace diesel for backup generation, said Porter, EPRI's VP of electrification and sustainable energy strategy.
White House unveils AI data center executive orderPresident Biden on Tuesday issued an executive order to accelerate the construction of large-scale data centers and clean energy facilities on federal lands.
Why it matters: Tech giants are scrambling to build data centers to support advancements in AI, quantum and cloud computing and keep a global competitive edge.
Why it matters: The executive order unveiled Tuesday morning is an important marker in the debate about AI's massive power suck and is among the first specific proposals we've seen to address it.
But it leaves many details to the Trump administration and Hill Republicans.
Driving the news: The order lets DOE and the Defense Department lease out federal land for data centers and seeks to help construction and interconnection of clean energy to power them.
It proposes new exemptions from the National Environmental Policy Act for the required infrastructure and sets up guardrails for how projects can be powered.
The order defines "clean" generation as coming from renewables, nuclear and fossil fuel power plants with carbon capture technology that "achieve carbon dioxide capture rates of 90% or higher on an annual basis."
Though that would exclude "unmitigated" natural gas that's released without being treated to reduce its environmental impact, many analysts are expecting AI's power suck to send gas demand skyrocketing.
Between the lines: Some other important details will be left to President-elect Trump — if he keeps the order in place.
For instance, it directs DOE, Interior and other agencies to adopt categorical exclusions under NEPA that could be relevant to AI, clean power or transmission within 120 days.
The Trump transition didn't immediately respond to request for comment.
What they're saying: Rep. Chuck Fleischmann said that in his discussion with incoming Trump officials, they're all in on powering these data centers with nuclear and gas.
"There's absolutely no question whatsoever that … these smaller reactors will be ideal for these AI centers because of their voracious need for energy," the chair of the House Appropriations panel funding DOE told Axios on Tuesday morning.
Johanna Neumann of Environment America, which had previously raised concerns about expediting permitting for AI, said the order "takes important steps to prevent the race to AI from becoming a race to the bottom for the environment and our health."
Zoom in: The order also contemplates a major barrier driving a backlog of power plant projects on the grid: lack of transmission and easy access points.
DOE is required to identify "underutilized" interconnection points to help data centers plug into the grid and new power plants connect their facilities.
The DOE will work with transmission providers and organizations near the selected federal sites to come up with needed upgrades by the end of 2027.
The big picture: The implications of this EO could ripple through the power sector.
For geothermal, it includes categorical exclusions and other permit expediting provisions similar to what the industry has long sought from Congress.
And it requires plans from agencies on how to deploy new nuclear.
What's next: Congress really hasn't focused on AI power use in any substantive way. Right now, that conversation usually turns back to bringing more power onto the grid via a permitting overhaul.
"The [tech] companies are finding out they've got to have the baseload if they want to go inside the meter," Rep. Bob Latta told Axios.
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