Trump says he will use energy emergency declaration to approve more power for AI

President Trump said Thursday that he will use his energy emergency declaration to approve power stations for artificial intelligence (AI) centers.

Speaking at the World Economic Forum, Trump said: “We’re going to make it so that the plants will have their own electric generating facilities attached right to their plant. They don’t have to worry about a utility”

He said the emergency declaration would enable approval of the electric power buildout for AI uses.

“We’re going to build electric generating facilities — they are going to build. I’m going to get them the approval,” he said. “Under emergency declaration, I can get the approvals done myself without having to go through years of waiting.”

“And the big problem is we need double the energy we currently have in the United States — can you imagine? — for AI to really be as big as we want to have it,” he said. “So, I’m going to give emergency declarations so that they can start building them almost immediately.”

He added that companies would be able to power their centers with “anything they want, and they may have coal as a backup.”

Artificial intelligence technology is particularly power-hungry and is expected to contribute significantly to electricity demand in the years ahead.

Trump, on his first day in office, declared a national emergency related to energy — which is expected to unlock additional powers aimed at building out the nation’s energy supply.

Speaking about the declaration from behind the desk of the Oval Office, Trump said “that means you can do whatever you have to do to get out of that problem.“

“And we do have that kind of an emergency,” he added.

Trump has also taken on other policies to embrace AI, announcing earlier in the week that he would invest up to $500 billion in related infrastructure.

His latest announcement generated some left-wing pushback.

“Trump's fake emergency to justify fast-tracking coal- and gas-fired power plants to supply power-hungry AI data centers will expose American families to higher utility bills, spoil air quality and gush increased greenhouse gas emissions,” Tyson Slocum, director of Public Citizen’s energy program, said in a written statement.

“Trump's continued abuse of emergency powers to enrich his powerful special interest donors comes at the expense of the health and wallets of working Americans," he added.

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