Biden to lease public lands for ‘clean energy’ data centers
Today, the Biden administration directed the Departments of Energy and Defense to lease public lands to data centers — so long as they’re powered with “clean energy.”
The order did not define if clean energy is restricted to only wind and solar or whether it would include carbon-free electricity sources like nuclear. The statement says only that developers “will be required to bring online sufficient clean energy generation resources to match the full electricity needs of their data centers.”
From Utility Dive:
DOD and DOE “will select sites where the private sector can build AI data centers and clean power facilities based on those sites’ accessibility to high-capacity transmission infrastructure and minimized adverse effects,” the White House said. “After selecting sites, DOD and DOE will hold competitive solicitations for proposals to lease these sites for building, owning, and operating large-scale AI infrastructure — all at private expense…”
The White House said the EO prioritizes “full and expeditious permitting of AI infrastructure on federal sites” and calls for federal agencies to identify “further opportunities to support expeditious permitting at these sites, such as by applying or establishing ‘categorical exclusions’ … for infrastructure that does not significantly affect the environment.”
The National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) requires projects likely to have an impact on the environment to undergo a lengthy and litigious permitting process. However, instead of Congress passing lasting changes to speed up permitting, politically favored types of projects tend to receive special exemptions, called “categorical exclusions,” from NEPA requirements, through specific executive orders or bills.
Biden’s executive order on data centers is just the latest example of special treatment. Utility Dive reports that “DOE last year finalized new and revised categorical exclusions for energy storage projects, transmission lines and solar projects, exempting eligible projects from environmental assessments or environmental impact statements.”
Strong U.S. competition in data centers and artificial intelligence will be critical for national security, and it’s good that the Biden administration is recognizing it — albeit with less than a week to go. Securing reliable, affordable, round-the-clock energy for data centers is already a focus for Big Tech giants that are privately procuring nuclear power agreements.
But handing out special exemptions to lease federal lands for politically favored projects instead of making permitting faster across the board is a mistake. Every type of project should go through permitting more quickly, not just those that politicians like. Tying those favors to building specific energy generation technologies is even worse, as it eliminates the free market’s role and yet again picks the winners and losers in the U.S.’ energy future.