President-elect Donald J. Trump’s return to the White House comes at a critical moment for America’s energy future. We are experiencing unprecedented demand for reliable power to fuel burgeoning technologies like artificial intelligence and quantum computing. That demand is expected to grow exponentially over the coming years. In President Biden’s Washington, Democrats have lurched further and further to the left in a failed attempt to excite his political base by pushing unrealistic dreams of an electric grid powered only by unpredictable wind and solar. Fortunately, Trump understands that our energy security, technological edge, and national security are at stake. We have already seen the premium that the new administration places on good energy policy with the announcement of the brand-new National Energy Council.
The amount of energy used by AI data centers alone is expected to skyrocket over the next decade. Every time a new technology is announced, or there is a breakthrough in quantum computing, there is a corresponding increase in energy demand. Other countries around the world, particularly China, are building massive data centers and the energy infrastructure necessary to power advancements in AI. Meanwhile, America’s energy sector has been hamstrung for four years by policymaking that has sought to restrict and contract energy production rather than unlock its full potential.
With the past as prologue, Trump’s first term and his record on supporting reliable nuclear power as a vital energy source provide cause for optimism about the new direction of U.S. energy policy. Trump has a track record of delivering results on nuclear power and demonstrating what is possible when we put America first.
Within the first six months of his first term, Trump announced an initiative to unlock the power of American innovation on the industry. He said, ‘First, we will begin to revive and expand our nuclear energy sector — which I’m so happy about — which produces clean, renewable and emissions-free energy.’
In 2019, Trump’s Department of Energy (DOE) finalized loan guarantees that totaled $12 billion to finance the construction of the Vogtle nuclear power plant in Georgia. This was the first nuclear plant to begin construction in the U.S. in decades. This accomplishment was not just about creating jobs or expanding our production capacity. It was a downpayment on our future technological innovation.
That same year, President Trump issued a presidential memorandum to establish the United States Nuclear Fuel Working Group. It was a meaningful acknowledgment that there are national security implications around the need to produce nuclear power. Ultimately, the administration proposed a Uranium Reserve Program at DOE to ensure that America has a secure energy future.
Trump’s forward-looking approach also provided an important counter to China. Previous administrations had ignored the efforts that China was undertaking to dominate both the global nuclear and AI markets. The Trump administration, however, took concrete action to restrict nuclear exports to China and was successful in convincing allies to buy nuclear technology from America rather than China.
Many Democrats in Washington want you to believe that their green agenda is the only way forward and refuse to entertain any other ideas, no matter how worthy they are. Most Americans already understand the reality that powering AI and other future technologies with only solar and wind power is a fantasy. They are unreliable, uneconomical, and unable to provide the amount of power America needs. Thankfully, President Trump has already laid much of the groundwork to protect existing nuclear capacity and invest in the future. We now have a real opportunity to add nuclear capacity through new plants or by reviving shuttered plants that we desperately need. However, we must ensure that our existing nuclear fleet, which has seen a number of closures in the past decade, is preserved. This two-fold strategy will provide the additional around-the-clock power we need, support the current infrastructure, and power technological innovation.
Energy policy does not exist in a vacuum. It is inextricably tied to America’s technological future and global economic leadership. Protecting existing nuclear capacity and expanding it means we can power more AI, more quantum computing, and more technological innovation at home, all with power that runs around-the-clock in every weather condition. Every advancement in nuclear technology strengthens our national security and ensures we don’t cede our technological edge to China or Russia.
During a campaign stop in Pennsylvania, Trump touted the benefits of nuclear energy and pledged to embrace it as an energy source. He said, ‘I will do rapid approvals for new energy infrastructure, and we will embrace all forms of energy including nuclear. Nuclear is a great energy.’ China is aggressively expanding its industrial and technological infrastructure. We can’t let inadequate energy capacity hold us back. I am confident that the team that President Trump has assembled, including North Dakota Gov. Doug Bergum at the Department of the Interior and Liberty Energy CEO Chris Wright at DOE, understand this.