The U.S. can be an AI leader with good energy policies Image By Jeff Trench Key Points Hyperscale data centers have rapidly expanded, with facilities now starting at 100 MW and customers seeking 1 GW or more, equivalent to the entire electricity use of Washington, D.C., putting unprecedented strain on the U.S. power grid. Vantage cites three main challenges, long interconnection timelines, lagging transmission development, and fragmented permitting processes, that prevent the grid from keeping pace with rapidly growing electricity demand. Vantage urges Congress to modernize energy policy and grid planning to unlock investment, ensure timely access to power, and maintain U.S. leadership in AI infrastructure, warning that without action, the nation risks falling behind global competitors. This is a lightly edited excerpt of testimony recently provided to the U.S. Senate’s Energy and Natural Resources Committee during the hearing “Hearing to Identify Challenges to Meeting Increased Electricity Demand.” Demand for the AI and cloud infrastructure Vantage provides is accelerating. Over the past decade, I have seen the scale and speed of hyperscale data center development grow dramatically. Five years ago, a 30-megawatt facility was considered large. Today, 100 megawatts is the starting point, with campus developments commonly reaching 500 megawatts+ — and we have multiple customers seeking one gigawatt or more for AI infrastructure, the equivalent of all electrical power used in Washington, D.C. Utilities are often willing to provide the electrical power we need, but they operate within planning cycles, regulatory requirements, energy markets and business models based on decade-long horizons; moreover, many of these models and rules were developed at a time well before the Internet existed and when load growth was flat. The past has not been prologue. Now, the largest barriers to tackling the challenges we face can be traced to public policies that Congress and the Administration can improve. Energy policy is complex. Multiple levels of government influence how and when new transmission is built and new generation is interconnected. When timelines and rules are misaligned, promising investments stall and opportunities are lost. It is on this topic that Congress can lead to find a solution that will unlock capacity and, in doing so, unleash the investment that will maintain our global leadership on AI. The challenge we face Vantage and our customers are prepared to continue to invest hundreds of billions of dollars in American infrastructure. We are asking for your leadership to drive a more modernized policy framework that reflects today’s growth, aligns with investment timelines and ensures that the power system is ready when and where it is needed. If we do not act decisively, we risk ceding AI leadership to countries that are moving faster to modernize their energy infrastructure. From Vantage’s perspective the challenge is clear: we cannot access power on a timeline that aligns with customer demand. In market after market, we encounter the same three challenges: Interconnection timelines are too long. This is true for both new loads — such as data centers — and new energy resources coming onto the grid. Queue studies can take several years to complete. Restudies and limited transparency add further delay. This uncertainty makes it difficult for developers to plan and for customers to commit. Transmission development lags demand. Many regions are not planning for the scale of growth driven by the digital economy. Without anticipatory planning, grid congestion worsens, and costs rise. Permitting is fragmented and sequential. Transmission and generation projects must navigate multiple federal, state and local reviews, often with overlapping or duplicative requirements. This slows down projects that are otherwise ready to proceed. These are not new problems, but they are now hitting at a time when urgency is growing. We believe they can be solved, but it will require clear policy direction, coordination and accountability. What we can do At Vantage, we prefer to source power from the grid. It should be the most efficient, reliable, scalable and cost-effective solution for our customers. But when interconnection timelines stretch years beyond our project schedules, and the buildout of grid-connected generation capacity is not keeping pace with the demand growth rate for electricity, we have no choice but to explore alternatives. That includes deploying on-site generation to serve initial loads, co-locating near existing power plants, planning developments in phases and coordinating with utilities and state partners to locate scarce near-term capacity. These efforts reflect creativity and adaptability. They do not represent a sustainable model for national infrastructure growth. No single business or technical workaround can substitute for a coordinated, modern and responsive grid. The U.S. electrical grid has not kept pace with the demand placed on it to meet the needs of today or tomorrow. That is the bottleneck, and that is where federal leadership can make a difference. Upgrading the grid infrastructure to accommodate the needs of AI data centers and other large users is essential to support this expansion and to maintain U.S. leadership on AI and benefit the entire U.S. economy and all electric grid users with more clean, reliable and affordable energy. By creating a policy environment that encourages investment in the grid and flexibility on solutions, we can enhance its capacity and resilience, ensuring it can meet the evolving demands of AI technology and support the continued development of AI applications to strengthen our nation’s leadership on this critical technology. Read the full testimony here. Jeff Trench is the Executive Vice President of North America and Asia Pacific Vantage Data Centers. *The opinions expressed in this column are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of EnergyPlatform.News.
