As the popularity and use of language learning models such as Chat-GPT and Co-Pilot and other Artificial Intelligence (AI) products rapidly expand and as data centers continue to search for building and electric capacity to manage that demand, big business has begun to seek approval from states in a race to see who will become the front-runner in the new AI industry. Making huge steps in this endeavor, Amazon Web Services (AWS) seeks to establish its dominance in the AI industry with a $20 billion investment to build two new data centers in Pennsylvania over the next 10 years, fueled by carbon-free nuclear power.
Amazon’s investment aligns with a rising wave of private-sector clean energy projects with a hope to sell a different story regarding AI – one focused on environmental, social, and governmental (ESG)-friendly and sustainable energy resources – rather than one focused on massive energy consumption from existing energy supplies. This announcement follows the nation’s largest public power company, Tennessee Valley Authority, submitting a construction permit to develop a next-generation nuclear power plant in Tennessee and also follows China’s in-the-works, world’s-first compact nuclear reactor to deliver clean energy to half a million homes. Nuclear energy has never been more important than it is today, and the potential for more nuclear projects in Pennsylvania, the U.S., and abroad is growing and will continue to grow by the day.
With new large projects often comes community concerns, particularly in terms of baseload-level nuclear generation. These can range from uncertainty regarding how the high cost of these projects will be paid for, either through an increase in the tax base or an increased cost in energy use to retail customers, to environmental concerns such as the massive quantities of water required to cool these facilities alongside nuclear waste disposal. When these questions go unanswered, communities become concerned regarding what to expect. Additionally, with the ongoing import tariffs and the potential for regulatory or governmental change on a moment’s notice, either through a new executive order or a court order, there is the potential for even more increased costs associated with such projects, as materials and resources are increasingly imported from abroad.
The focus of renewal resources is not new. Many businesses have signed onto carbon-neutral pacts or Paris-Accord-like agreements to reduce and/or eliminate their carbon footprint. There are many different approaches, ranging, for example, from Google having a significant interest and focus on wind, solar, and geothermal renewal energy projects, to Apple’s initiatives with biogas and solar renewal energy projects, to Amazon’s aforementioned nuclear project and other wind and solar renewal energy projects. Regardless, the largest businesses are continuing full speed towards a carbon-neutral state. Although political institutions and administrations change, businesses do not necessarily modify their long-term goals and plans in response to these changes.
While significant regionally, Pennsylvania is just the most recent state of many to advance a large-scale data center powered by renewable resources. Most recently, a lawsuit was dismissed in April 2025 against Meta in its pursuit of a new $10 billion data center in Louisiana, paving the way for its development. Regardless of location, however, as large-scale projects are announced and begin development, there is no clearly defined future free of obstacles. In addition to court actions and governmental regulations, AWS in Pennsylvania, like Meta in Louisiana, may receive community pushback, prices may hike, and water resources may decrease, all in the pursuit of creating a more ESG-friendly and sustainable energy.
Riley D. Breen, Summer Associate, contributed to this article.
