Senators ask Biden administration to prioritize consumer costs, climate goals, and competitiveness over the energy needs of big technology companies
Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senators Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), Brian Schatz (D-HI), Peter Welch (D-VT), Ed Markey (D-MA), and Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) wrote a letter yesterday to President Biden, Energy Secretary Granholm, EPA Administrator Regan, and senior White House officials urging them to reconsider issuing an executive order that would streamline the buildout of data centers powering artificial intelligence technology, and reportedly allow new data centers to exceed clean air and water standards and to receive priority access to the grid over households and other industries.
“We write to express our concern with reports that the administration is considering fast-tracking the construction of data centers to power artificial intelligence (AI). We have supported significant, bipartisan steps to maintain U.S. leadership in AI and bolster our national security. At the same time, data centers are already dramatically increasing load on the grid. This increased demand has already led to higher energy costs for ratepayers and higher emissions, underscoring the need to thoughtfully match this load with abundant and affordable clean energy,” wrote the senators.
“As your administration considers how to support this technology, we urge you to uphold critical clean air and water standards and ensure that the energy needs of technology companies are not prioritized over the needs of households,” added the senators.
Surging power demand from data centers is outpacing the growth of carbon-free electricity. Data centers now use 4 percent of all electricity in the United States, and are projected to account for 9 percent of total U.S. power demand by 2030. This surge has contributed to levels of power demand growth that the United States has not experienced in decades, data centers will be responsible for 44 percent of this growth by some estimates.
Utilities are already raising electricity rates for household ratepayers and increasingly relying on gas and coal generation to meet this growth. Relying on fossil fuels to meet this demand would severely erode the America’s progress on our climate goals. Some big technology companies, including Microsoft and Google, have taken serious steps to meet their growing electricity load with new clean power. An executive order would undercut their ambitious plans.
“Some of the world’s largest companies are leading the buildout of data centers and have demonstrated their ability to bring new clean energy onto the grid. We should not relieve them of that responsibility while passing higher energy costs on to working families who are already struggling to make ends meet,” wrote the senators.
“We are the United States of America; there is no doubt that we can win the AI race while accelerating our decarbonization efforts,” concluded the senators.
The text of the letter is below and a PDF is available here.
Dear President Biden, Secretary Granholm, Administrator Regan, Mr. Zients, Mr. Sullivan, Mr. Podesta, and Mr. Zaidi,
We write to express our concern with reports that the administration is considering fast-tracking the construction of data centers to power artificial intelligence (AI). We have supported significant, bipartisan steps to maintain U.S. leadership in AI and bolster our national security. At the same time, data centers are already dramatically increasing load on the grid. This increased demand has already led to higher energy costs for ratepayers and higher emissions, underscoring the need to thoughtfully match this load with abundant and affordable clean energy. As your administration considers how to support this technology, we urge you to uphold critical clean air and water standards and ensure that the energy needs of technology companies are not prioritized over the needs of households.
We support maintaining U.S. leadership in next-generation technologies and advancing innovation while also looking out for individual ratepayers and the environment. Over the past three years, Congress has invested in clean and affordable energy through the Inflation Reduction Act, Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, and CHIPS and Science Act,which are already accelerating decarbonization while reshoring clean energy manufacturing from China and other countries.
Some of the world’s largest companies are leading the buildout of data centers and have demonstrated their ability to bring new clean energy onto the grid. We should not relieve them of that responsibility while passing higher energy costs on to working families who are already struggling to make ends meet. Moreover, we would be concerned if these opportunities were limited to large, vertically integrated AI companies, which could harm the capacity of smaller firms to compete and innovate.
We urge you to reconsider any potential executive action that could lead to increased pollution and costs for consumers. We are the United States of America; there is no doubt that we can win the AI race while accelerating our decarbonization efforts.
Sincerely,
