Democratic and Republican candidates in an artificial intelligence (AI) hotspot have floated the idea of blocking data center expansion as the technology drives electricity costs up, according to Semafor.
As electricity costs rise, politicians from both parties are blaming AI data centers and calling to limit their growth in a move some energy policy experts warn could slow U.S. economic development and give China an edge in the AI race. Though data centers are major economic engines, opposition is mounting in the AI hub known as Prince William County, Virginia, as both major-party candidates have called for halting expansion over concerns that the industry’s growth will overburden residents.
“I think we should, personally, block all future data centers,” said Patrick Harders, the Republican candidate vying for an open Prince William County board seat, according to Semafor.
His Democratic opponent, George Stewart, agreed and called “the crushing and overwhelming weight of data centers” a crisis, accusing tech companies of “having us, as residents, pay for their energy.”
Though the fight over data center expansion spiking electricity costs isn’t a focal point for state-level races, it has become a major issue in some local elections, particularly in Virginia. Voters in Prince William County are listing data centers as a key issue on the ballot, according to a local news outlet.
American electricity demand is projected to spike by 25% by 2030, largely driven by data centers, according to tech company ICF. Since the climbing demand is correlated with rising electricity costs, some politicians have suggested slowing AI development, however, several energy policy experts explained to the Daily Caller News Foundation that it is vital for America to surpass China in the AI race.
“Blocking data center expansion would be idiotic from the perspective of continued economic progress. Data centers and the technologies they power will be the bedrock of future innovation and economic growth, and unlike the green tech industry, this is not an economic war we can afford to lose to China,” Director of the Arthur B. Robinson Center on Climate and Environmental Policy at The Heartland Institute Sterling Burnett told the DCNF. “Politicians on both sides of the aisle and big tech alike have created the problem we now face, with too little power to expand quickly without compromising reliability and imposing high costs. They must acknowledge this and agree to work together to solve it.”
President Donald Trump has made AI development and energy security main priorities in his administration. Former President Joe Biden also championed AI expansion, though he pushed for intermittent green energy technology that some energy policy experts and many Republican attorneys general doubted could power energy-hungry data centers.
Trump has called for obstacles to be cleared for dispatchable power sources like coal and nuclear, sounding the alarm over a national energy emergency. The Department of Energy (DOE) projected in a July report that blackouts will increase by a factor of 100 by 2030 if the U.S. continues phasing out reliable power sources without adequate replacements.
“Soaring electric bills are grabbing headlines and fueling campaign debates. Wind and solar advocates pin the blame on surging demand from AI data centers craving 100% reliable power, something weather-dependent wind and solar can’t provide,” President of Truth in Energy & Climate Frank Lasee told the DCNF. “Biden-era policies shuttered viable coal plants prematurely, hiking costs. Trump has reversed course, halting future closures to preserve on-demand generation amid rising needs.”
Energy policy experts like Lasee and Burnett point to Biden-era energy policies as corrosive as they tightened supply amid climbing demand, with Biden announcing that his administration would shut coal “plants down all across America.”
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