January 15, 2025
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Biden opens public lands to data centers powered by clean energy
President Biden has issued an executive order allowing data centers to be built on federal land in an effort to strengthen clean energy and protect national security amid the boom in artificial intelligence.
Wednesday, March 27, 2024, IAD71 Amazon Web Services data center in Ashburn, Virginia, USA.
Nathan Howard/Bloomberg via Getty Images
Climate Wire | President Joe Biden on Tuesday issued an executive order directing the Departments of Energy and Defense to lease land to the private sector to build “gigawatt-scale” data centers.
The move aims to strengthen clean energy and protect national security amid the boom in artificial intelligence. Data centers built on federal property will be required to bring clean energy online to meet the facility’s power needs, the White House said.
The Biden administration did not fully define clean energy in its announcement. However, they urged the DOE and DOD to choose locations that have access to the source of infection and do not negatively impact the community. The executive order also directs the Department of the Interior to identify land for data centers and strengthen permits for geothermal power generation.
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The order requires federal agencies to expedite permitting at selected sites, including “categorical exemptions” under the National Environmental Policy Act. The DOE will be required to work with power companies to connect AI infrastructure to the power grid and accelerate the deployment of renewable and nuclear energy.
“DOE will take appropriate steps to coordinate with developers in the construction, financing, promotion, and planning of transmission lines around these sites. To facilitate this work, DOE will utilize utility data on transmission congestion. and other information to improve transmission planning in these areas,” the order states.
With President-elect Donald Trump’s inauguration next week, it is unclear how much of an impact this order will have. President Trump has criticized Biden’s push for clean energy, but has called for more drilling to increase energy supplies to stay ahead of China in AI. He is also pushing to build its own data center.
President Trump said at a press conference last week that Hussein Sajwani, a real estate developer based in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, will invest $20 billion to build data centers in eight states.
Biden’s order had been expected for weeks. POLITICO previously reported that the president pushed for it in part because technology companies are eyeing subsidies for building data centers in the Middle East. In November, Google signed a deal to develop an artificial intelligence hub in Saudi Arabia.
Tuesday’s order said the new plan would prevent adversaries from accessing powerful computer systems that could “harm our military.” AI is “too important to offshore,” the order states.
A DOE report last month found that energy use by data centers could triple by 2028, accounting for 12% of the nation’s electricity. States and power companies are grappling with how to deal with the surge in demand for electricity. In Virginia, home to one of the world’s largest AI clusters, officials say data center growth could pose challenges to the power grid if gas, renewable energy and power aren’t built out faster. I’m warning you.
Prior to the order’s announcement, environmental groups had warned the government against announcing plans to ease environmental regulations and increase the potential for further pollution. The order states that expedited permitting is required for infrastructure that “does not have a significant impact on the environment.”
It also directs government agencies to complete a study on the impact data centers have on electricity prices.
The White House says developers will be required to pay the full cost of building, operating and maintaining data centers on federal land to avoid increasing the burden on consumers. The order also directed DOE and DOD to require companies to assess the national security risks of their projects and ensure that workers are paid the “prevailing wage.”
Reporter Robin Brabender contributed.
This story also appears below energy wire.
Reprinted from E&E News Published with permission of POLITICO, LLC. Copyright 2025. E&E News provides news that matters to energy and environment professionals.
