Data centers have become the new top scapegoat in American energy politics. Towns are freezing data center building projects, governors are piling on conditions, and Senate candidates are promising a pause, all while the argument stays fixed on the data center itself. What almost no one is fixing is the reason bills are rising in the first place.

The United States still cannot zone, permit, and interconnect new power fast enough to match what artificial intelligence is asking of the system. Until that changes, a ban and a “yes, but bring your own electricity” rule end up in the same place. The project waits either way.