{"slug": "federal-regulators-back-trump-s-plan-to-speed-power-to-energy-hungry-ai-data", "title": "Federal regulators back Trump's plan to speed power to energy-hungry AI data centers", "summary": "Federal regulators voted unanimously to allow AI data centers and other large energy users to connect more quickly to the U.S. electric transmission system, backing a Trump administration plan to accelerate power access for energy-hungry AI facilities. The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission's order requires data centers to pay full grid upgrade costs but does not address tightening energy supplies driving up electricity bills and raising blackout warnings. The decision aims to help the U.S. compete with China in AI, though utilities and clean energy advocates raised concerns about state authority and renewable energy requirements.", "body_md": "# Federal regulators back Trump's plan to speed power to energy-hungry AI data centers\n\n## Federal regulators have agreed to let large energy users connect more quickly to the nation’s inefficient and electric transmission system to accommodate surging demand from power-hungry artificial intelligence data centers\n\n- Bookmark\n\nFederal regulators on Thursday agreed to let large energy users connect more quickly to the nation’s inefficient and electric transmission system to accommodate surging demand from power-hungry artificial intelligence data centers.\n\nEnergy Secretary Chris Wright had urged the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to act in an effort to help the [United States](/topic/united-states) better compete with [China](/topic/china) for superiority in the fast-growing AI sector. Tech companies and data center developers have welcomed the chances for faster connections to the country's power supply.\n\nBut utilities, states and regional grid operators worried that the [Republican](/topic/republican) administration’s plan would remove their authority to manage the process. Clean energy advocates want the agency to advance, rather than undermine, state-level efforts to require the use of renewable energies.\n\nThe commission's actions come as a backlash grows against data centers over fears about rising electricity prices and concerns about the massive amounts of energy and water they use, polluting communities across the country and straining water resources and the electric grid.\n\nFERC members voted unanimously to direct that AI data centers and other large power users are “able to connect to the transmission system in a timely and orderly manner.”\n\nLaura Swett, an appointee of President [Donald Trump](/topic/donald-trump) who leads the commission, called the vote a historic action to push the country’s electricity market into the future while also protecting ratepayers from shouldering the costs of connecting big power users to the grid.\n\n[Data](/topic/data) centers would pay the full cost of any grid upgrades needed for their connection, under the commission order. But that order can do little to address the tightening energy supplies that are driving up electricity bills in some areas and raising warnings of blackouts as the construction of data centers outpaces the speed of new power plants coming online to serve them.\n\nThe vote comes eight months after Wright asked the independent agency to take more control over ensuring that the vast network of massive computing warehouses needed to power AI are connected quickly to high-voltage transmission lines.\n\nTech giants are scrambling to find enough power for their data centers and report that, in some places, it will take years to connect to the electric grid.\n\nBesides power bottlenecks, the tech industry is running into widespread opposition from communities Residents do not want to live next to or near a data center, citing fears about rising electricity prices, pollution and water consumption. There have been protests over losing open space, farmland or rural character.\n\nMore than 4,000 data centers now operate in the U.S., according to one estimate, with an additional 3,000 planned or under construction, including some that consume more energy than a small city. Such facilities have ballooned in size to accommodate the demands of AI.\n\nTrump has tried to deflect public concerns about AI, seeing the fast-evolving technology as crucial for the U.S. to attract foreign investment and maintain its economic and military prowess. Trump signed an executive order this month that establishes a framework for the federal government to vet the national security risks of the most advanced AI systems for up to a month before their public release.\n\nIn December, FERC took an earlier step to help data center operators get electricity quickly, voting to allow tech companies to effectively plug a data center directly into a power plant.\n\nCompanies such as xAI, Google, Microsoft, Meta, Oracle, OpenAI and Amazon have signed Trump’s Ratepayer Protection Pledge, in which they agreed to build or buy new sources of power generation for their data centers and cover the expense of infrastructure upgrades.\n\nThey also committed to making backup generation available to prevent blackouts in times of emergency, and to hire locally for their data center build out.\n\nData from the Electric Power Research Institute shows that data centers now account for about 5% of U.S. electricity demand, but could triple by 2035. In Virginia, data centers account more than 25% of overall demand and could rise to more than 40% by 2030.\n\nTech companies have continued to raise their spending on data centers, but there is evidence that construction is lagging.\n\nA J.P. Morgan report last month said that, based on satellite images, over 60% of data center capacity planned for completion in 2027 hasn’t begun construction, and another 7% is delayed. It said the culprits are typically related to permitting and delays in getting gas turbines, transformers and skilled labor.\n\n___\n\nLevy reported from Harrisburg, Pa.", "url": "https://wpnews.pro/news/federal-regulators-back-trump-s-plan-to-speed-power-to-energy-hungry-ai-data", "canonical_source": "https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/donald-trump-washington-united-states-china-data-b2998535.html", "published_at": "2026-06-18 15:27:10+00:00", "updated_at": "2026-06-18 15:34:33.805998+00:00", "lang": "en", "topics": ["artificial-intelligence", "ai-policy", "ai-infrastructure", "ai-ethics"], "entities": ["Federal Energy Regulatory Commission", "Donald Trump", "Chris Wright", "Laura Swett", "United States", "China", "xAI", "Google"], "alternates": {"html": "https://wpnews.pro/news/federal-regulators-back-trump-s-plan-to-speed-power-to-energy-hungry-ai-data", "markdown": "https://wpnews.pro/news/federal-regulators-back-trump-s-plan-to-speed-power-to-energy-hungry-ai-data.md", "text": "https://wpnews.pro/news/federal-regulators-back-trump-s-plan-to-speed-power-to-energy-hungry-ai-data.txt", "jsonld": "https://wpnews.pro/news/federal-regulators-back-trump-s-plan-to-speed-power-to-energy-hungry-ai-data.jsonld"}}