Climate Advisers director: The U.S. needs a clean energy standard for AI data centers

Detailed summary

Voters delivered a verdict on data centers in the midterm election. It's time for the industry to act.

Voters delivered a verdict on data centers in the midterm election. In an NBC News exit poll, 56% said AI and data centers were a crucial or major factor in their vote for Congress, and voters passed more than 40 local measures restricting data centers. Lawmakers now face a choice. They can answer with bans, or with rules that decide who pays for AI’s power but ignore where it comes from. Either would be half a policy. Voters want lower bills and cleaner air, and clean energy can address both. Ireland, Singapore and China have already tied data center growth to clean power. The United States should too.

Residents outside Memphis have seen the alternative. xAI has run dozens of gas turbines across the state line in Southaven, Mississippi, to power its Colossus 2 data center, drawing lawsuits and complaints over air quality. More are coming. Global Energy Monitor counts 189 GW of natural gas tied to data centers in development as of mid-2026, with about 17 GW already under construction. Gas appeals to AI companies because it can provide reliable, around-the-clock power, but turbine shortages and equipment backlogs could delay projects or cause them to be scrapped. This gives policymakers time to shape what will power most AI data centers in the coming years.

For now, clean energy is winning on the grid. This year, solar, batteries and wind make up more than 90% of planned U.S. capacity additions, according to the Energy Information Administration, with developers racing to qualify for federal tax credits before they phase out. Without policy, that may not last.

So far, when it comes to AI data centers, Washington and the states have focused mostly on costs. President Trump’s Ratepayer Protection Pledge is voluntary, and The Ratepayer Protection Act, which stalled in the Senate this fall and could return in the next Congress, would protect consumers from higher bills but says nothing about clean energy.

States have moved faster, with moratoriums and rules that make data…

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