The AI energy crunch has a cure: End the “Endangerment Finding”
By
Melanie Collette
|
August 25th, 2025
This summer, Americans are feeling the pinch as electric bills rise, and independent analysts predict staggering residential-rate increases of 30 to 60 percent by 2030 due to the growing demand from artificial-intelligence data centers. The time to address this situation is now.
A recent capacity auction reveals a dramatic increase in clearing prices—spiking more than tenfold in just two years—largely driven by data-center demand, which accounts for over 90 percent of the load growth in the grid system. Utilities are now faced with the monumental task of meeting this unprecedented demand, which will necessitate billions in new transmission and generation infrastructure. Unfortunately, these costs are likely to be passed on to consumers, culminating in higher electricity bills.
While AI isn’t inherently the problem, federal climate policies from 2009 create substantial obstacles. The EPA’s 2009 Endangerment Finding determined that greenhouse gases—including carbon dioxide—pose a threat to public health and welfare, and it supports EPA regulations that now impose strict CO₂ controls on long-standing coal units and most new baseload gas plants. This effectively delays the deployment of affordable, reliable energy sources capable of meeting the rising demand. Reversing this finding might be the most effective step policymakers can take to avoid an electricity-cost crisis related to the AI revolution.
The Hidden Surcharge: EPA’s Endangerment Finding
https://www.cfact.org/2025/08/25/the-ai-energy-crunch-has-a-cure-end-the-endangerment-finding/
