The Wall Street Journal has some bad news for the United States. The demand for power is on the rise. It’s expected to keep rising for the foreseeable future. And while China is poised to meet this challenge, America is not.
According to one Goldman Sachs estimate, China will have about “400 gigawatts of spare capacity” by 2030 — more than enough to meet both consumer needs and the demands of the energy-intensive AI sector. By contrast, over the next three years, “U.S. data centers could face an electricity shortfall of 44 gigawatts, the equivalent of New York state’s summertime capacity,” the Journal reports.
Last year, American data centers accounted for 45% of global data-center electricity consumption, according to the International Energy Agency, compared with 25% for China. . . .
Chinese data centers can now secure power for as little as 3 cents a kilowatt-hour using longer-term purchase agreements, according to China’s National Energy Administration. In the U.S., operators in markets such as northern Virginia typically pay 7 to 9 cents a kilowatt-hour, said Michael Rareshide, a partner in charge of the data-center practice at real-estate advisory Site Selection Group.
There may be bumps along the road to Chinese energy dominance. Beijing’s crash-course construction program — both of its power plants and data centers — has contributed to the People’s Republic’s increasingly unsustainable debt burden. Nor is it clear how the AI race will unfold in the long run, or whether the technology will merit the infrastructure investments it is precipitating. Straight-line projections tend to disappoint.
But there can be no doubt that the United States needs more power. With that imperative in mind, the Trump administration is taking steps to reduce the nation’s power deficit.
“The Trump Department of Energy is preparing to finance up to 10 nuclear power plants in an effort to usher in a nuclear energy ‘renaissance,’” the Washington Free Beacon reported this week.
In the outlet’s interview with Energy Secretary Chris Wright, the WFB revealed the administration’s plan to provide low-interest financing for a push to build an initial tranche of reactors. That initiative dovetails with the administration’s efforts to get the nation’s mothballed reactors, like Pennsylvania’s Three Mile Island and Michigan’s Palisades Nuclear Generating Station, back online.
In addition, the administration will help finance the development of small modular nuclear reactors (SMR) — transportable nuclear power plants that can generate upwards of 300 megawatts of electricity. Indeed, the administration revealed this week that it would provide $800 million to public initiatives and private enterprises designed to jumpstart SMR development.
This is a long-term problem, and a handful of nuclear reactors — whenever they eventually come online — will not solve it alone. But it’s a good start.
Noah Rothman is a senior writer at National Review. His third book, Blood and Progress: A Century of Left-Wing Violence, will be published by Hachette in May 2026.
Reprinted with Permission from The National Review – By Noah Rothman
The opinions expressed by columnists are their own and do not necessarily represent the views of AMAC or AMAC Action.
One data center uses 460 gigawatts of power. These data center should have to supply nuclear energy and water! AI is the modern day devil!
America’s power problem created by leftists and climate grafters.
We know how to build small reactors. We have them in our navy ships and submarines. Develop them for cities to buy and maintain. Off they are safe enough for Navy ships and all the personnel that live next to them, they are certainly safe for our cities.
In our state the rising costs of power has been passed onto consumers for future projects! These companies can surely afford with government subsidies to pay for these new plants.
We have the liberals and their “green new scam” to blame.
President Trump needs to have DOGE investigate why it take the Department of Energy so long to approve anything to do with the projects that was to build nuclear reactors (like the Terrapower project in Wyoming).
And we have idiots in the Colorado legislature that want to ban natural gas for home heating and force people to go all electric by 2050. Just more Marxist/democrats wanting to destroy America one warm home at a time. Just proves it doesn’t take brains to be a politician.
Windmills and solar panel grids are for homeowners and small rural businesses to play with – NOT and never has been a serious national solution. It’s resources, production and waste management operations are far more damaging to environment than nuclear and traditional energies. It was a money making China sell out scheme. It’s, all resources (oil, gas, coal) back on deck in a plan that brings them onboard with real thought into phase out while energies from nuclear and hydrogen (not hydro, but why not that too as a part of the grid with thoughtful planning ? Why are our leaders and industrial leaders always planning and so sloowwww in doing ?
China’s power needs are being met by building coal fired power plants.
China is still classified as a developing economy, thus exempt from the insane demands made on the free world countries.
Digital currency operations consume a vast amount of electrical power and AI will consume that much or more. During the “deep freeze” Texas experienced in 2021, the bitcoin operations had to shut down to free up the needed power for home heating, otherwise there would have been outages as the power grid would have failed.
The sooner the better!
It’s about time! About 50 years overdue! Nuclear energy would result in self sufficience and ultra clean energy production. I sure hope the days of fear-mongering about this form of energy production are over.
I’ve always liked Nuclear Options!
also focus on using less electricity. For instance, turn off lights when not in rooms. If all hospitals, nursing homes, etc. would turn off bathroom lights when no one is in those rooms search measure. Shirley would have some effect and you could expand on those type measures in Shirley that would help.
Trump needs a little bit more education on energy needs, as he has said nobody builds windmill farms as they are junk & the truth is that China has lots of them that produce power. So who is looking at the future & not just short term? Also the AI and Cryptocoin industries are extra large consumers of electric power…….and they do not produce a product that contributes to our GDP & improves our economy.
Trump needs to take another look at his trade wars. The NW electric power is low cost and in Washington the Natural gas is about 85% supply from Canada and then look at how much of the electric power to our NE states are supplied by Canada & ask why we want to start a war that will increase our energy costs. Tariffs are causing inflation & it is getting a little more worse every month as US consumers start paying for them.