There’s no question President Donald Trump wants to go big.
Trump, flanked by multiple Cabinet secretaries — including Energy Secretary Chris Wright — announced a more than $90 billion investment by private energy and tech companies to help Pennsylvania get on the train to a secure, innovative energy future on Tuesday.
At the Energy and Innovation Summit in Pittsburgh, Trump’s suite of Cabinet secretaries who play a key role in this endeavor expressed their optimism and their vision for the future.
“It is very important for us to be able to get these new projects approved, to be able to get it done as quickly as we can, to make sure the EPA isn’t slowing things down,” EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin said.
“We are in a race to make America the AI capital of the world. We are in a race to unleash energy dominance, and the Trump EPA takes our responsibility and this opportunity very seriously, to be able to do everything in our power to help lead the way,” he said.
In the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, Republicans passed a resolution that would allow what Democrats called a “pay-to-play” scheme that allows companies to pay a fee to fast-track environmental review for projects.
That fast track has drawn the ire of Democrats and other opponents who fear safety and rapid acceleration of these projects are not being carefully considered.
Getting off the ‘crazy train’
Wright praised the administration’s approach to increasing domestic energy production and promoting emerging technologies like artificial intelligence at the Energy and Innovation Summit.
“The Trump administration’s goal is to get the U.S. off the energy crazy train,” Wright said during a panel discussion. He added that, in particular, the Biden administration sent the U.S. in the wrong direction by focusing on corporate environmental, social and governance issues.
Wright said that fossil fuels supply 82% of U.S. energy, even after the Biden administration’s Inflation Reduction Act, which allocated hundreds of billions of dollars to promote clean energy. He said that the legislation, which has been recently slashed by Republicans, wrongly focused on wind and solar.
“We’re able now in short order to just dramatically pivot the trajectory of American energy,” Wright said.
A Utah connection
“If we’re going to win the AI arms race, we need massively more energy, not standing in front of the way of our energy today. We have to add massively to our electrical generating capacity. We want to re-shore manufacturing and industry to this country and that’s all about energy,” Wright said.
Wright also spoke briefly about the importance of the U.S. Department of Energy’s national labs. The department has 17 national laboratories that conduct research and development, including working on advancing artificial intelligence.
“AI is our second Manhattan project,” Wright said. “If we fumble the energy ball, we will not win the AI race, but we can and shall win the AI race.”
Idaho National Laboratory is in the hunt
The Idaho National Laboratory, located just a few hours from Salt Lake City, has been chosen to serve as the chief digital officer for the Semiconductor Manufacturing and Advanced Research with Twins USA Institute (SMART USA).
“INL was selected for its vast expertise in digital twinning, high-performance computing, digital engineering, artificial intelligence and advanced manufacturing,” said Chris Ritter, INL’s division director of scientific computing and AI, who will lead INL’s part of the effort. “We will also be in charge of developing tools and methodologies to provide agile responses to supply chain disruptions, ensuring continuous and efficient semiconductor production.”
Utah and other states across the country are vying for AI and data centers, but first they have to fortify the grid.
The state is known for its lucrative startup investments and it is rich in its portfolio of diverse energy. It does remain to be seen, however, if it can capture the infusion of cash like Pennsylvania.