We’ve all seen the headlines over the last couple years about the surge toward new technological advances like artificial intelligence. So many buzzwords swirl around these innovations but one that everyday Americans should pay attention to is “data centers.” 

Data centers are facilities, mostly operated by major tech companies, that house the computers and technical infrastructure needed to run services and store the data needed for those services. That means that data centers support artificial intelligence applications as well as many of the activities we engage in everyday—online shopping, streaming movies and television shows, storing photos and documents in the cloud, and so much more. 

But, these important tech facilities have accelerated a growing trend toward electrification that we’ve already seen in manufacturing and the push toward electric vehicles. Bottom line, there is a looming need for more electricity and the energy sources that fuel it:

•  A single AI search requires approximately 2.9 watt-hours of electricity, while a typical Google search consumes only 0.3 watt-hours.
• Data centers will double their U.S. electric demands by 2030 — requiring enough electricity to power more than 26 million average homes.
• Demand from data centers will grow by 165% by 2030.

But, we already face obstacles to meet these future energy needs. The green-at-any-cost push to replace traditional energy sources like natural gas with so-called green resources like wind and solar to produce our electricity has created a less reliable electrical grid prone to blackouts. Numerous U.S. communities have lost out on data centers and the tax revenue and jobs that come along with them because they couldn’t supply ample reliable electricity.

The fact is renewables already can’t cut it. The U.S. has already significantly lowered its emissions from electricity BECAUSE of an increased use of natural gas. Wind and solar provide less than 15% of our electricity needs now and that electricity is unreliable, not actually clean and subsidized at the expense of American taxpayers.

The future is here and if we want to take advantage of its opportunities, we need Affordable, Reliable and Clean American energy like natural gas to power it.