US Blackouts Set to Double by 2030 as AI Power Demand Explodes—Trump’s Energy Department Sounds Alarm

The lights are flickering—and AI is flipping the switch. According to a stark warning from Trump’s Energy Department, America’s power grid is buckling under the insatiable thirst of artificial intelligence. Blackouts? They could double by 2030. No backup generators, no rainchecks—just cold, hard grid failure.

The AI Power Gulch

Data centers—those unglamorous warehouses of the digital age—are sucking up electricity like Wall Street sucks up bailouts. And with AI’s exponential growth, the problem isn’t just knocking on the door—it’s kicked it down. Forget crypto miners; AI’s energy appetite makes them look like amateurs nibbling on appetizers.

Grid vs. Growth

Infrastructure upgrades? Lagging. Renewable solutions? Still playing catch-up. The report paints a grim picture: either America invests billions yesterday, or it’s back to candlelit Zoom meetings by 2030. Funny how ‘progress’ sometimes means trading one kind of darkness for another.

The Bottom Line

Blackouts mean chaos—for markets, for tech, for everyone. But hey, at least the energy sector’s stocks might moon. Silver linings, right?

AI surge strains power grid as Trump targets green policies

Energy Secretary Chris Wright said the US must boost fossil fuel production to avoid outages, warning, “If we are going to keep the lights on, win the AI race, and keep electricity prices from skyrocketing, the United States must unleash American energy.” He made the remarks as part of the department’s latest push to prevent further power plant closures.

The warning lines up with Trump’s recent $3.4 trillion fiscal package, which strips tax credits from wind and solar projects. That budget MOVE hit renewables hard, just as solar was growing fast.

Last year, solar energy made up 61% of new energy capacity, about 30 gigawatts, based on Energy Information Administration figures. It was expanding because it’s cheap, easy to deploy, and batteries now store extra power for nighttime use. But that growth now faces major policy roadblocks.

The department says around 100 nuclear reactor equivalents will shut down by 2030, and that could cause “significant outages when weather conditions do not accommodate wind and solar generation.” The report makes it clear: unless more fossil fuel plants are kept alive or new ones built, the grid may not survive the next tech boom.

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