US President Donald Trump's administration is launching a massive plan to doubling the US's electricity generation capacity.
The goal is to meet the huge energy needs of the artificial intelligence (AI) sector and ensure the country's global technological superiority over China. Due to the critical shortage of capacity in the aging American power grid, the White House has already imposed emergency measures and deregulation in the sector.
Energy Emergency: Donald Trump has announced his readiness to use his powers to declare emergency declarations in the energy sector. This would allow tech companies to build private power plants right next to their data centers, bypassing slow regulatory and environmental approvals.
Commitment from Big Tech: The President signed the historic agreement Ratepayer Protection Pledge. Leading technology giants such as Microsoft, Oracle, Google and Meta have committed to covering the costs of building and deploying new energy capacity themselves, so as not to increase the bills of ordinary American households.
New nuclear and coal power: The White House is massively subsidizing and accelerating projects for advanced nuclear modular reactors, as well as new coal-fired power plants with carbon dioxide capture systems, halting the decommissioning of old fossil fuels.
Political clash: A heated debate is underway in the US Congress between Republicans and Democrats. The opposition is pushing for stronger environmental and consumer protections, as projections show that by 2030, AI centers could consume up to 17% of all electricity in the country.
Source: CNBC