As a kid, I used to watch the awful cartoon “Masters of the Universe,” which has been on my mind lately because the movie version is currently in theaters. In the cartoon (not sure about the movie), Prince Adam would pull out his sword and transform into He-Man by yelling, “By the power of Grayskull, I have the power!” Yes, it was cheesy and very 1980s, but we sure could use some of that energy now. Not the muscle-bound, Dutch boy-haired sword fighter, but the power – specifically the electricity and the grid to deliver it at a good price.
If your family is like mine, you’ve opened an electricity bill and been shocked by the number in that envelope. Here in Maryland, it can be chalked up to Democrats closing power plants in the name of “green energy” that simply doesn’t produce enough power. Supply being limited while demand grows means higher prices.
To “make up for it” here in Maryland, Democrats created a subsidy of around $140 a year for families – about twelve whole dollars a month – and have been congratulating themselves for it ever since. But the subsidy is a political stunt, ignoring the real problem: we need more electricity.
In fact, electricity demand has never been higher. America’s prosperity has afforded us the luxury of more air conditioning, and the Internet age means more energy-consuming devices. Add to that the future economy that is being built now via energy-consuming data centers, and the need for electricity and the ability to deliver it has never been more important.
I realize data centers and artificial intelligence are unpopular, but that doesn’t change the fact that they are also inevitable. Buggy-makers undoubtedly hated the rise of the automobile, but no amount of grousing was able to change the future, just like now. The future is coming and, as I’ve been saying for a few years, it can either be centered here in the United States or in China. There isn’t really another option.
Personally, I’d much rather be the world leader in what comes next than be the world leader in what once was, and AI and data centers are what comes next.
To make that happen, not only do we need to make sure tech companies build and expand here, but we have to make sure our infrastructure can handle the added load.
Our energy grid is woefully out of date, and for decades, politicians didn’t care. They happily spent money everywhere except where it was needed and necessary because it’s better politics to just buy the votes through wasteful pork projects that enrich the entitled classes.
But without an updated and stable grid, we’re going to lose to China. China will build as much AI infrastructure as it can to try to beat us in the AI arms race. After all, the communists in China aren’t beholden to special interests – like environmental groups – that risk slowing down their AI build-out.
Therefore, America needs to act now so that China doesn’t beat us in AI. Indeed, a new study demonstrates how upgrading our energy grid will be the difference-maker between the United States remaining the world’s leader and innovator in technology and how to avoid becoming history’s next buggy maker in the age of cars.
The report’s conclusion – “the U.S. electric grid is a critical national asset whose value lies not only in the electricity it delivers, but in the economic activity it enables. Continued investment in a modern, interconnected grid is essential to meeting future demand while maintaining reliability.” This is spot on.
I’ve seen the video of former Google CEO Eric Schmidt being booed by graduates as he delivered a commencement address about the importance of the coming AI boom, so I know people, especially young people, are worried about losing their jobs to it. But people have feared changes and technology forever; it’s nothing new and it never pans out because human beings have the ability to adapt – people will always find new ways to make new things people need or want.
History is littered with examples of humans adapting to new economies and technologies, and I haven’t seen any proof that the AI revolution will be any different. Yet, politicians and the media like to scare people, so now everyone is anti-AI.
But to continue to lead into the future, the US needs to innovate and incentivize investment. America needs to get out in front of AI, by expanding and modernizing our energy production and power grid. That also means a lot of good jobs in building and maintaining the electric grid.
Also, what is consistently overlooked is that increasing the supply of electricity will reduce shortages and bring down people’s power bills. In other words, building out the grid is the key to lower electricity costs.
In the end, you can’t fight the future, nor should you want to. But you can, and should, position yourself to be better able to take advantage of it than your competition will be. That’s what the US has to do with AI, data centers and China.
Derek Hunter is the host of the Derek Hunter Show on WMAL in Washington, DC, and has a free daily podcast (subscribe!) and author of the book, Outrage, INC., which exposes how liberals use fear and hatred to manipulate the masses, and host of the weekly “Week in F*cking Review” podcast where the news is spoken about the way it deserves to be. Follow him on Twitter at @DerekAHunter.