President Biden Signs Executive Order to Accelerate Buildout of AI Data Centers

U.S. President Joe Biden on Jan. 14 issued an executive order to strengthen U.S. leadership in artificial intelligence, or AI, and accelerate the development of large-scale data centers and clean energy infrastructure needed to support AI operations efficiently and at scale.

The executive order directs certain agencies to make federal sites accessible for AI data centers and clean energy facilities, streamline their connection to the electric grid, expedite permitting processes, and promote transmission development near federal sites.

The order directs the Department of Defense (DOD) and Department of Energy (DOE) to lease federal sites for gigawatt-scale AI data centers and clean electricity facilities. Sites will be chosen based on access to high-capacity transmission infrastructure and minimal impact on communities, the environment, and commercial resources. After site selection, the agencies will invite private-sector proposals to build, own, and operate the infrastructure at private expense through competitive solicitations.

To catalyze clean energy for AI infrastructure, the order requires developers on DOD and DOE sites to generate enough clean energy to fully meet their data center electricity demands consistent with applicable law. The Department of the Interior will be required to identify suitable lands for clean energy projects to support data center needs and also streamline permitting for geothermal development. Further, DOE is required to promote distributed energy resources, support the siting of clean generation at existing interconnection points, and advance safe deployment of nuclear energy.

Data centers are expected to consume 6.7 to 12 percent of total U.S. electricity by 2028, up from about 4.4 percent in 2023, according to a report released last month by Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. Several technology firms have turned to nuclear power for its reliable, carbon-free energy through co-location arrangements, viewed as a strategic solution to directly power their facilities without lengthy interconnection processes and grid upgrades. The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission is examining the broader implications of co-location of large loads at generating facilities.