Trump's AI action plan targets power sector reforms

President Donald Trump's administration on July 23 released an "AI action plan" of policy recommendations aimed at ensuring US "dominance" in artificial intelligence, including a number of initiatives focused on electricity.

The 28-page plan identified three "pillars" focused on innovation, infrastructure, and international AI diplomacy and security. It recommends rollbacks of AI and environmental regulations that the administration says hinder construction of data centers and semiconductor manufacturing. It also includes measures to increase power generation and transmission to meet an expected surge in US data center electricity demand.

The announcement was made on the same day the US Energy Department canceled its loan guarantee for the Grain Belt Express transmission line — a major multistate infrastructure project in the Midwest — amid pressure from Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.).

"The United States needs to innovate faster and more comprehensively than our competitors in the development and distribution of new AI technology across every field, and dismantle unnecessary regulatory barriers that hinder the private sector in doing so," the action plan said.

Along with AI-specific recommendations, the plan reiterates the administration's previous efforts to postpone the decommissioning of generation, such as coal plants, and prioritize the interconnection of new dispatchable generation. The plan said it was necessary to embrace new generation sources such as enhanced geothermal and nuclear generation, both fission and fusion.

The plan suggests leveraging backup power sources to bolster grid reliability during peak demand, but did not expand on what those sources could be. Additionally, it stated the necessity to ensure that "every corner of the electric grid" is in compliance with nationwide resource adequacy standards. The plan recommends that the US investigate new ways for large power consumers to manage their power consumption during critical periods.

It also suggests reforming the power market to "align financial incentives with the goal of grid stability," but does not offer any specific recommendations.

In addition, it calls for a strategic blueprint for the power grid to enhance system performance and efficiency, with solutions that include advanced grid management technologies and upgrades to power lines to increase transmission along existing routes.

Plan reactions mixed

The plan includes six policy recommendations, mostly around rolling back environmental regulations, aimed at streamlining the construction of datacenters, semiconductor manufacturing facilities and energy infrastructure. The recommendations include establishing new categorical exclusions under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). The administration plans to either streamline or reduce regulations promulgated under the Clean Air Act, the Clean Water Act, the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act, as well as other environmental laws to expedite permits.

The DOE already trimmed NEPA's scope.

Additionally, the administration will consider establishing a nationwide Clean Water Act Section 404 permit for datacenters. The 404 permit is required under the Clean Water Act to release dredged or fill material into the waters of the United States. If established, the new 404 permit would not require a pre-construction notification and would cover the development of sites consistent with the "size of a modern AI datacenter," the plan said.

The Trump administration also plans to expand the use of the FAST-41 process — aimed at speeding environmental reviews for infrastructure projects — to cover both data centers and data center energy projects. In addition, the administration intends to direct agencies with significant land portfolios to identify sites suited for large-scale development.

The Data Center Coalition, an industry group, in a July 23 statement applauded the plan's "commitment to streamlining permitting for data center construction and optimizing our energy systems."

The group urged the Trump administration and Congress "to act swiftly to expand energy access and modernize grid permitting, and to strengthen domestic supply chains for semiconductors and other critical technologies."

Conservative policy groups seeking a deregulatory approach to AI also praised the plan.

But clean energy and environmental advocates criticized it.

"The Trump administration is blatantly seizing on AI and data center load growth as an excuse to justify his expensive fossil bailout agenda," Laurie Williams, director of the Sierra Club's Beyond Coal Campaign, said in a statement. "This gross mismanagement of our country's energy needs will increase power bills for hundreds of millions of people while making the electricity grid less reliable."

Williams called for tech companies with clean energy commitments, including Amazon.com Inc., Alphabet Inc., Meta Platforms Inc. and Microsoft Corp., "to protect the average American family from the massive money grab happening by the administration and utilities on behalf of fossil fuel companies."

Garrett Hering contributed to this article.