The United States needs more electricity now, not tomorrow. The country is locked in an existential competition with China over supremacy in artificial intelligence and the technologies that will define economic and military power in the 21st century. AI is extraordinarily electricity-intensive. Yet, America’s power grid is fragile, aging, and constrained by a political and regulatory system that makes it painfully slow to build new generation.

The data centers that power the AI revolution are coming online faster than regulators, utilities, and lawmakers can adapt. Instead of confronting the hard question of who should pay for the electricity required to win the AI race, politicians are pandering to the populist wings of both parties. The result is a growing threat to grid reliability, AI leadership, and long-term economic growth.