The Trump Administration’s recent “AI Action Plan,” expediting permitting for energy-intensive data centers by easing clean energy and environmental regulations, could lead to soaring energy prices and rolling black outs, according to energy experts. The boom in AI is already causing energy prices to rise in several states, like Illinois and Louisiana, where giant data centers are causing huge increases in energy demand.
A coalition of experts and nonprofits advocating for responsible AI and smarter data center expansion called People’s AI Action Plan released a statement reading in part, “We can’t let big tech and big oil lobbyists write the rules for AI and our economy at the expense of our freedom and equality, workers and families’ wellbeing, even the air we breathe and the water we drink – all of which are affected by the unrestrained and unaccountable rollout of AI.”
The Trump Administration’s AI Action Plan is viewed as a quid pro quo gift to big tech companies like Meta and Amazon that donated to Trump’s inaugural and have spent millions on lobbying. The action plan is widely unpopular outside of the tech industry. In early July, the Senate voted 99-1 to remove a 10-year moratorium on the enforcement of state AI regulations from the Republicans’ domestic tax bill, according to CNN.
Greg Zimmerman is senior contributing editor for FacilitiesNet.com and Building Operating Management magazine.
