AI is Hungry for More Natural Gas

July 25, 2025

NEED TO KNOW

• Check out TEA’s new website for the latest in energy news and opinion — sorting Common Sense from the Nonsense.
• TEA Takes: Reclaiming ‘environmentalism’ from the climate extremists.
• New York halts offshore wind power lines, citing Trump’s opposition.
• BP names new chairman amid strategy shift.
• Trump eases industrial pollution limits to ‘unleash American energy and lower prices.’
• Biden’s EPA scrambled to beat the clock, routing billions to political allies.
• How fossil fuels could boost geothermal energy.
• Natural gas is just starting to fire up.
• Trump is escalating his attacks on wind and solar.
• Tesla’s profits fall due to plunging EV sales.
• EPA drafting plan to end its role in fighting climate change, per report.

COMMON SENSE

“BUILD, BABY, BUILD” AND DO IT NOW: America is at the forefront of an AI revolution — and the engine driving it isn’t silicon or software.

It’s energy. Specifically, natural gas.

That was the resounding takeaway from last week’s Energy and AI Summit in Pittsburgh, where billions in investment converged around one central idea: Powering the future means building now. GE Vernova announced a $160 million expansion of its South Carolina turbine plant to meet surging demand.

Why it matters: AI, data centers, and advanced manufacturing need energy that is Affordable, Reliable, and Clean, and natural gas checks all three boxes, as stated in TEA’s Common Sense Energy Agenda.

There’s a shortage of new gas turbines owing to surging global demand. But turbine manufacturers are expanding production, and the phaseout of the IRA tax credits will provide them with more certainty to invest in new capacity.

Over the last five years, the U.S. added 35 gigawatts (GW) of natural gas capacity. In the next five years, we’ll need to add at least 50 GW to meet the demand AI is creating, according to AI company Anthropic.

Consider:

This spring, the National Association of Manufacturers (NAM) expressed its concerns to Congress. These are the companies that build things.

• The U.S. electric grid is aging, vulnerable to severe weather, and woefully underbuilt for what’s coming.
• AI-driven data centers don’t just require more electricity — they require reliable electricity, at scale, 24/7.
• Solution: Expand natural gas generation and infrastructure — quickly.

The good news: there are over 100 new natural gas plants in the early stages of development across the country.

Bottom line: The AI boom is driving up energy demand. To protect grid reliability and keep energy prices affordable, we need to build new natural gas plants as quickly as we’re building new data centers. The future won’t wait, neither can we.

NONSENSE

CLIMATE CRYBABIES: Many in the media and among environmental extremists are claiming President Trump’s “Big Beautiful Bill” will harm the environment. They couldn’t be more misguided.

Why it matters: This is where many on the left side of the political spectrum have gotten it wrong.

Our national goal must be to codify ARC Energy Security law in its current pure form. Americans will begin to recognize its importance to their livelihood as much as programs like Social Security and Medicare.

Legislators would do well — as they have in Louisiana, Ohio, and Indiana — to adopt this approach at the state level and, most importantly, at the federal level.

To that end, permitting reform is crucial to meeting rising energy demands. Making it easier to do business always attracts investors.

Consider:

 As Secretary of Energy Chris Wright points out, climate change is a by-product of progress, not an existential crisis. Wright was correct in his assessment:

• By targeting our most reliable fuels, the previous administration restricted energy production and blocked critical infrastructure projects like natural-gas pipelines.
• This resulted in higher energy prices and inflation, driving up costs for everything from gasoline to groceries, hurting low- and middle-income families and small businesses the most.
• It weakened the resilience of the electric grid.

Ultimately, it made American manufacturing more expensive and uncertain, risking an exodus of businesses, which would result in lost jobs and a shrinking tax base.
Fortunately, this administration is focused on energy addition, not subtraction, which is a complete reversal from the previous four years.

Bottom line:American energy producers are cleaner and more environmentally conscious than anywhere else on Earth. For decades, natural gas has been reducing emissions and will continue to do so well into the future.

A LOOK AHEAD

QUOTE OF THE WEEK

“Pennsylvania has secured $92 billion in energy and AI investments. This should be a warning shot to states like New York. Reliable, affordable energy is attracting business, while states pushing the Green New Scam fall behind.”

— Energy policy expert Daniel Turner on X.