Policymakers and energy planners are increasingly considering nuclear power to enhance grid reliability, reduce greenhouse gas emissions from electricity generation, and meet rising electricity demand driven by data centers.
November 19, 2025
high
trend
Contemporary policy and planning considerations that motivate interest in nuclear energy.
Analysts in 2025 attributed rising U.S. electric bills to a combination of expensive grid modernization and hardening projects, increased demand from data centers and bitcoin miners, efforts to revive domestic manufacturing, and rising natural gas prices.
November 08, 2025
high
temporal
Commonly cited drivers of higher electricity costs in 2025.
Expansion of data centers and artificial intelligence infrastructure is increasing electricity demand, which can create a need for enhanced grid reliability and increased transmission capacity.
October 16, 2025
medium
trend
Demand drivers for grid upgrades and transmission expansion
Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said in 2025 that spending to build data centers is not especially interest-rate sensitive and is based on longer-run assessments that such investment will drive higher productivity.
September 29, 2025
high
temporal
Economic assessment of data-center capital expenditures and their sensitivity to interest rates.
Data centers that run artificial intelligence systems require large amounts of electricity for computing and for cooling the servers that perform AI workloads.
high
technical
Energy demand characteristics of AI-focused data centers.
Increased local electricity demand from large facilities such as data centers can contribute to higher retail energy prices for customers if utilities or regulators allow cost pass-throughs for new infrastructure or fuel expenses.
high
causal
Higher demand can require new transmission or generation investments and increase fuel procurement, and regulatory decisions determine how those costs are allocated to customers.