July’s “Winning the Race: America’s AI Action Plan,” released by the White House, contains helpful recommendations for the energy sector as the use of AI becomes more prevalent and, with it, the need for more energy. The plan recommends the use of an existing consultation and coordination process for expediting the federal permitting and review of large infrastructure projects to cover all eligible data center and data center energy projects. It also recommends optimizing existing grid resources, prioritizing the interconnection of reliable power sources, ensuring sufficient generation exists to support data centers, and embracing new technology and sources of energy.
AI consumes large amounts of energy and, to sustain that need, the demand for energy infrastructure is likely to continue increasing. For those operating in the energy sector, this need for more energy could mean a time of great growth and opportunity. For example, an expedited or streamlined permitting process would greatly assist companies in developing and siting the power plants necessary to meet the growing demand.
At the same time, the plan highlights the cybersecurity risks and vulnerabilities associated with AI and recommends that incident response and vulnerability response playbooks be modified to include AI risks and systems. While energy has long been considered critical infrastructure, it is crucial that those operating in the energy sector keep pace with the increased risks that AI brings to the table and the steps companies must take to address those risks.
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