Rising resistance is having an impact. Around $18 billion in data-center projects were blocked over the past two years, according to Data Center Watch<\/a>, a nonpartisan boutique research firm. The organization found another $46 billion in projects were delayed due to opposition from residents and activist groups.\u00a0<\/p>\n Across the country, elected leaders have been voted out<\/a> based on their position on data centers, construction proposals have been withdrawn<\/a> and data-center development moratoriums have gained traction<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n The Energy Department has a distinct interest in artificial intelligence, given its role as the agency leading the Genesis Mission<\/a>. The initiative is a national, all-hands-on-deck effort that plans to bring national laboratories, private-sector companies and academic institutions together to integrate AI, quantum and high-performance computing advancements into a range of workflows tied to scientific discovery.\u00a0<\/p>\n The agency is also a primary steward of the energy grid, which is threatened by the AI boom.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cWe need to change the public perception of AI,\u201d Wright said. \u201cIf we don\u2019t market it better and we don\u2019t communicate it better, we\u2019re at risk.\u201d<\/p>\n Last month, the Trump administration rolled out its Ratepayer Protection Pledge<\/a> as a way to lessen the burden on citizens. Seven technology companies accepted the terms, according to the March announcement, which included a voluntary commitment to negotiate separate rate structures, invest in local communities and contribute to a more reliable grid. Amazon, Google, Meta, Microsoft, OpenAI, Oracle and xAI were among the initial wave of signees.\u00a0<\/p>\n While some groups welcomed the effort<\/a>, others argued that it didn\u2019t go far enough.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cA voluntary pledge from corporate actors to stay on their best behavior is simply a vague and largely meaningless effort that fails to offer ratepayers any guaranteed protection from soaring utility rates,\u201d Trevor Higgins, SVP of the energy and environment department at the Center for American Progress, said in a statement<\/a> following the March announcement.\u00a0<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t \n\t\t\tWritten by Lindsey Wilkinson![\"Lindsey](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ai\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/1776462196_442_IMG_5250-e1764867083701.jpg\")
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\n\t\t\tLindsey Wilkinson is a reporter for FedScoop in Washington, D.C., covering government IT with a focus on DHS, DOT, DOE and several other agencies. Before joining Scoop News Group, Lindsey closely covered the rise of generative AI in enterprises, exploring the evolution of AI governance and risk mitigation efforts. She has had bylines at CIO Dive, Homeland Security Today, The Crimson White and Alice magazine.\t\t<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Energy Department might be all in on AI, but the increasing apprehension among the American public poses…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":7139,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[24,25,111,6443,85,2108,6444],"class_list":["post-7138","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-ai","tag-ai","tag-artificial-intelligence","tag-artificial-intelligence-ai","tag-chris-wright","tag-data-center","tag-department-of-energy-doe","tag-marcy-kaptur"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ai\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7138","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ai\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ai\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ai\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ai\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7138"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ai\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7138\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ai\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/7139"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ai\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7138"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ai\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7138"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ai\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7138"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}