Utilities are clashing with the Trump administration over who controls the future of power. (E&E News)
The White House wants AI data centers and big industrial users to generate their own electricity, arguing it’ll ease pressure on the grid and lower costs. Utilities say it could do the opposite—undermining grid stability, raising rates, and upending a business model built on long-term planning.
Federal cuts to renewable funding, rollbacks of clean energy tax credits, and emergency orders keeping aging fossil plants open have scrambled investment plans and stranded projects midstream.
With power demand projected to jump 50% by 2050, utilities say political whiplash—not technology—is now the biggest threat to keeping the lights on.