President Trump’s State of the Union left no doubt: the United States will compete, build, and lead in artificial intelligence (AI), advanced manufacturing, and the industries that will define the next century. As we approach our 250th anniversary, the president framed this moment as the start of a new era of national strength - a golden age.
That ambition carries a practical requirement: Leadership in the AI century demands energy on a scale we have never before contemplated. Across the country, data centers are expanding at a breathtaking pace. These facilities power the algorithms shaping defense, finance, healthcare logistics, and more. They operate around the clock, consuming enormous volumes of electricity. Advanced manufacturing facilities that produce semiconductors, precision equipment, and next-generation materials require the same scale. Every promise of American technological dominance rests on a domestic grid capable of sustaining it.
President Trump acknowledged these concerns directly. “Many Americans are also concerned that energy demand from AI data centers could unfairly drive up their electric utility bills.” That concern is legitimate. Working families should not bear the cost of an innovation surge that benefits only global corporations. The American worker who keeps the lights on at home should not be asked to subsidize a trillion-dollar technology sector.
The president’s response was equally direct. “We’re telling the major tech companies that they have the obligation to provide for their own power needs.” Growth must be matched by production; expansion must be paired with responsibility. If technology companies intend to build vast campuses and networks, they should help build the capacity required to sustain them.
This principle points toward a broader truth: the United States requires an all-of-the-above energy strategy grounded in competition, production, and transmission. AI is powered by electricity and those electrons must come from a diversified, expanding, and resilient system.
Coal, oil, and natural gas remain foundational. The shale revolution reshaped markets, strengthened grid reliability, and lowered costs for businesses and consumers. Under President Trump’s leadership, production reached record levels, and this progress should accelerate. Reliable, dispatchable generation remains indispensable to a strong industrial economy.
At the same time, conservatives should recognize the landscape as it is, not as pundits caricature it. Recent polling from Kellyanne Conway shows that a strong majority of Trump voters support expanding solar development. Voters understand that increased supply from any economically viable source strengthens the system. They are not asking for ideological purity nor subsidies - they are asking for abundance, affordability, and reliability.
Solar, wind, along with nuclear power and emerging battery storage technologies, are now essential parts of this strategy. Market-driven renewable projects enhance capacity, lower costs, and complement traditional sources, including during winter storms like Fern. Advanced nuclear technologies, including small modular reactors, offer steady baseload generation with modern safety standards. Transmission infrastructure must also expand to connect data centers and manufacturing facilities to the power they need. Permitting reform is essential if these projects are to power commerce and communities and keep pace with national competitiveness.
China’s statist strategy underscores the stakes. It is simultaneously expanding coal, scaling renewables, and accelerating nuclear deployment and development to secure the power required for industrial and technological dominance. The United States has superior resources, unmatched entrepreneurial strength, and unparalleled talent. We should respond with confidence, not hesitation. President Trump’s State of the Union emphasized economic resurgence: record natural gas production, restored manufacturing, and strengthened national security. These goals converge on one point: energy supply.
The AI century will reward nations that build infrastructure before bottlenecks emerge, align regulatory frameworks with growth, and understand that prosperity depends on diversity and scale. A grid designed for incremental demand cannot sustain exponential expansion.
As America enters its 250th year, the path forward is becoming clear. Under President Trump’s leadership, the country is no longer apologizing for producing energy, no longer accepting artificial limits on economic growth, and it's reclaiming the confidence that built highways, pipelines, power plants, refineries, and the greatest industrial system in history. The choice before the nation is straightforward: embrace technological innovation, expand energy production, reform permitting and regulations, and align private capital with national priorities.
If Congress acts and the private sector answers the call, the United States will not merely participate in the AI century; it will dominate it. That means expanding traditional energy production while fully unleashing American innovation in solar and wind. When historians look back, they may well see that the energy choices we make today lay the foundation for a new American golden age.