Here is another recent piece that I co-authored with Jacob Twyford, a member of Heritage’s Young Leaders Program. This piece was published to the Daily Signal site on August 4, 2026.
JASON HAYES | JACOB TWYFORD • August 4, 2026
There is no need to choose between winning the AI race and having affordable electricity. Data centers consume a lot of electricity and will therefore raise electricity demand across the country, but demand alone does not determine whether household rates rise. Texas’ data centers can strengthen the state’s economy without forcing households to pay higher electricity rates.
Data centers have been around for years, making everyday online services possible: websites, cloud storage, email, streaming, online banking, artificial intelligence, government networks, and business software. A data center provides the essential, physical infrastructure that supports “the cloud.”
Despite the useful services they supply, not everyone is convinced. In a recent poll, 14% of Texans “somewhat” opposed new data centers in their community, and a whopping 42% “strongly opposed” their construction.
Often people assume that allowing a new data center nearby will ensure their electricity prices increase rapidly. This doesn’t have to be the case. Electricity prices aren’t driven by demand growth alone. Instead, they’re driven by how the grid and infrastructure respond to that growth.
Take China, for example: It is experiencing a similar data center boom, but its electricity prices are significantly lower. China doesn’t unnecessarily restrict its supply chains, as we do in the U.S. Additionally, while gullible media and government officials point to China’s development of wind and solar, the Chinese government has fully committed to supplying abundant, cheap electricity for its industrial and commercial needs.
That commitment means China now operates the most coal-fired electricity generation on the planet, and its government has approved the construction of more new coal generation than is currently operating in the U.S. In contrast, overregulation hinders American energy from reaching its full potential.
A solution to meeting growing demand despite metastasizing regulatory restrictions on American electricity markets is a bring-your-own-energy style policy. These policies can work well in Texas’ energy environment, where, apart from market-distorting subsidies, the energy market is meant to determine what type of energy is cost-effective and reliable.
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You can read the rest of this article on the Daily Signal website.
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