Despite the recent surge in AI doomerism, President Donald Trump is right to maintain his strong support for data centers.As he notes: "China couldn’t be happier" if we were to turn our backs on these centers as a nation, which would effectively let the Chinese Communist Party win the AI race.As Energy Secretary Chris Wright said in July, "The country that leads in artificial intelligence in the coming years and decades ahead will be the global superpower." Victory means capturing trillions of dollars in national wealth, securing an advantage in military technology, and gaining enormous leverage in international affairs.An energy bottleneck could pose a serious risk to America’s AI lead.
We need data centers to train and run top-tier AI models, and those centers need a lot of electricity.In 2024, they accounted for over 4% of electricity use, and their consumption is expected to more than double by 2030.CHINA IS BUILDING AN AI WAR MACHINE.
WASHINGTON MUST WAKE UP BEFORE IT’S TOO LATEEnsuring there is sufficient supply and generation to meet the soaring demand is imperative to staying in the lead.Solar should be a key part of that equation.New data centers need energy right now.
New gas turbines and other large power projects can take years to bring online.Solar and battery projects can generally be deployed much faster, making them especially useful for meeting the near-term surge in electricity demand.Solar power has been closely associated with the environmental left, because for decades, Democrats largely sold solar as a climate policy, often with no concern for cost, for whether the panels themselves were made in America, or whether deployment strengthened a supply chain dominated by China.However, the strategic equation has changed.
Under the Trump Administration, the case for solar isn’t about "going green." It’s about reindustrialization, energy security, technological leadership, and the national interest.The Trump Administration recognizes the...