Speaker at Senate Energy hearing warns U.S. grid may not meet data-center demand, criticizes EPA rules

At a hearing of the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, an unidentified speaker warned that rapidly rising electricity demand driven by data centers and artificial intelligence could outstrip the U.S. grid’s ability to supply affordable, reliable power. "The Americans demand for electricity is expected to grow rapidly through 2030," the speaker said.

The speaker framed the issue as both economic and strategic, saying "whoever secures affordable and reliable electric power, China or America, will have a big head start in the race for artificial intelligence." They said data centers — which the speaker listed as enabling cloud computing, bitcoin mining and AI — "consume massive amounts of electricity," and cited estimates that demand for those centers "will double between now and 2030."

Citing the North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC), the speaker warned the grid is already strained and said NERC has "raised alarm about grid reliability," arguing that premature retirements of coal and natural gas plants have increased the risk of blackouts and brownouts. The speaker blamed recent Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) rules, saying they "will force the premature closure of even more coal and natural gas fired power plants" and that this trend is "making the situation worse." They added, "It is a disgrace," and said, "We cannot regulate our way to more electric generation."

On generation options, the speaker acknowledged that "wind and solar can help" but called them weather dependent. They criticized batteries as "expensive and can't provide power for extended periods," and said batteries "require vast amounts of minerals from China, from The Congo, from Indonesia," countries the speaker described as having "horrible human rights and environmental records." The speaker urged a balanced mix, saying "We need a reliable, steady, and balanced supply of electricity," and named "nuclear, coal, natural gas, and hydropower" as sources that can provide that reliability.

The speaker also referenced international capacity trends, saying a chart showed China had added "262 gigawatts of coal fired electric generation since the Paris Climate Agreement in 2025" while "the United States has shut down over a 100 gigawatts of coal fired electric generation." The speaker framed those numbers as evidence that China would ensure power for its AI developers and questioned whether the U.S. would be able to do the same.

The remarks ended with a policy prescription: "With demand poised to surge, it only makes sense to keep our existing power plants operating while also building new generating capacity. Our goal should be addition, not subtraction." The speaker thanked the chairman and another senator and concluded their remarks.

No formal votes or motions were recorded in the transcript provided.