Throughout American history, there have been moments when building on an enormous scale has been a national necessity. Think of how the New Deal brought electricity to rural communities, or how two decades later, Dwight Eisenhower launched the Interstate Highway System, one of the largest public-works projects in our nation’s history.  

We are entering another such moment for infrastructure in this country. After decades of relatively flat electricity demand, the United States is suddenly asking much more of its physical economy. We need more housing in the places where people most want to live, more power for factories and businesses, and a stronger industrial base capable of supplying our military in an increasingly dangerous world. Competition with China raises the stakes further — the race for leadership in artificial intelligence requires enormous amounts of electricity and computing capacity, as well as the infrastructure to support both.