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.