Media Contacts
Johanna Neumann
Senior Director, Campaign for 100% Renewable Energy, Environment America Research & Policy Center
Jon Maunder
Media Relations Specialist, The Public Interest Network
Abe Scarr
State Director, Illinois PIRG; Energy and Utilities Program Director, PIRG
BOSTON — President Joe Biden issued an executive order on Tuesday to fast-track the construction of data centers. The action accelerates permitting for data centers and the energy infrastructure to power them on land owned by the U.S. Department of Defense and the U.S. Department of Energy.
The order includes provisions that require data center developers to pay the full cost of building, operating and maintaining AI infrastructure—including the costs of building new data centers and clean power facilities, transmission development and upgrades. The order also directs agencies to study the effects of all AI data centers on electricity prices.
The order requires developers to procure new clean energy generation resources that can be delivered to the data center and that accurately match their electricity and capacity needs.
Environment America Research & Policy Center’s Senior Director of the Campaign for 100% Renewable Energy, Johanna Neumann, issued the following statement:
“Not all AI is worth doing, but if America is going to pursue AI at scale, we need to protect the environment from its impacts. This order takes important steps to prevent the race to AI from becoming a race to the bottom for the environment and our health. We urge the incoming administration to follow through on those safeguards.
U.S. PIRG Education Fund’s Energy and Utilities Program Director, Abe Scarr issued the following statement:
“This executive order includes provisions to protect consumers, and we hope the incoming administration keeps them in place. Data center developers shouldn’t be allowed to saddle other ratepayers with the cost of upgrading the electric system to accommodate energy demand created by their facilities.”
