Energy News Beat
Artificial intelligence is vital to the next wave of innovations in technology and entrepreneurship. ChatGPT’s launch at the end of 2022 caught the public’s attention, but AI has already infiltrated major industries. Fifty percent of global organizations reported adopting AI in at least one business area in 2022. AI has the potential to contribute $15.7 trillion to the global economy by 2030.
The new technology has use cases for both blue-collar and white-collar professionals. Manufacturers are identifying problems faster, farmers are finding possible causes for low crop yields, lawyers are stress-testing arguments and doctors are anticipating patient needs. AI also has use cases for combating climate change including mapping deforestation impacts and tracking more waste to recycle.
The Biden Administration is pursuing key next steps on AI to ensure the U.S. can remain competitive worldwide and stay ahead of hostile global competitors like China. A bipartisan approach to AI is supported by Congress, as shown in U.S. Senator Martin Heinrich’s (D-NM) release of a bipartisan roadmap for AI policy.
A fundamental bottleneck to the future of AI in the United States, however, is its immense energy demand. The technology is projected to require seven times more power than New York City’s annual electricity consumption by 2030. This is because each AI Google search needs 10 times the amount of energy of a normal Google search. Natural gas is projected to supply 60% of the energy demand, with renewables taking the other 40% by 2030, according to a Goldman Sachs report. This is on top of the already massive 60% expansion of the power grid that Princeton University says is needed to meet aggressive net-zero goals.
To ensure progress in the United States, we need energy to power AI. In addition to renewable energy, natural gas is the most pragmatic solution for its reliability, affordability and bipartisan support.
AI is already ushering in a new wave of employment opportunities in areas once overlooked in favor of coastal cities. Central Ohio, now dubbed Silicon Heartland, is home to data centers for Amazon, Meta and Google, among others. Data center space increased 146% from 2012-2021, and Intel broke ground in 2022 on a $20 billion chip manufacturing plant in New Albany that’s expected to employ upwards of 3,000 people.
As a former Ohio congressman, I’m proud that my home state’s economy is growing through new technologies. At the same time, this new growth has sounded alarms on the power demand ahead, with power company AEP Ohio projecting load growth of 20% a year and asking for longer contracts with data centers to cover the cost.
Economic boosts from the development of AI can only be sustained if Congress gets aligned on providing enough energy resources to power these technologies. That requires federal permitting reform to accelerate the process of building the transmission wires and pipes in a way that protects our environment, moves energy where it’s needed, and keeps America moving forward.
While I share my fellow Democrats’ enthusiasm for expanding renewable energy, we also need to be realistic about how fast that can happen reliably at the scale necessary to achieve technological competitiveness.
Technology companies will not wait decades for renewable energy alone to catch up; a partnership with natural gas is needed.
AI is transforming health care, research, education and so much more, but we cannot sustain these transformations without expanding our natural gas industry to power these data centers. These emerging technologies are vital to the growth of the U.S. economy and protecting freedom around the world.
It’s time to act, Congress. The American economy hangs in the balance.
Tim Ryan served 10 terms in the U.S. House of Representatives from 2003-2023. He serves as the co-chair of the Natural Allies for a Clean Energy Future Leadership Council
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