The U.S. Department of Energy has identified 16 federal sites, among them renowned nuclear research facilities like Los Alamos, where tech companies could establish data centers to help speed up the commercial advancement of artificial intelligence.
The sites are “uniquely positioned for rapid data center construction, including in-place energy infrastructure with the ability to fast-track permitting for new energy generation such as nuclear,” the agency said in a statement.
The move comes in the wake of an executive order signed in January by outgoing President Joe Biden, aimed at easing barriers to AI data center expansion in the U.S. and promoting the use of renewable energy to power these electricity-intensive facilities.
Although President Donald Trump has worked to undo many of Biden’s key AI initiatives since returning to office, he has made it clear that he does not intend to reverse Biden’s order on data centers.
“I’d like to see federal lands opened up for data centers,” Trump said in January. “I think they’re going to be very important.”
The proposed sites include several national laboratories, such as Los Alamos and Sandia in New Mexico, as well as Oak Ridge in Tennessee.
According to a Department of Energy report released late last year, electricity consumption by U.S. data centers has tripled over the past decade and could double or triple again by 2028, potentially accounting for up to 12% of the nation’s total electricity use.
In response, the U.S.—under both the Biden and Trump administrations—has accelerated efforts to approve and construct a new wave of nuclear reactors to deliver carbon-free power.
Biden’s executive order emphasized the use of clean energy such as geothermal, solar, wind, and nuclear to power AI infrastructure. In contrast, the statement from Trump’s Department of Energy focused solely on nuclear energy. But in a lengthy request for information sought from data center and energy developers, the agency outlines a variety of electricity sources available at each site, from solar arrays to gas turbines.
