Energy Department will spend nearly $2 billion to squeeze more electricity from the nation's aging power grid

The U.S. Department of Energy said Thursday it will direct nearly $2 billion toward upgrading an aging electricity grid strained by soaring demand tied to artificial intelligence data centers. Officials described 31 projects across 26 states projected to add more than 23 gigawatts of capacity, enough to serve 16 million homes, while potentially improving reliability and lowering costs for roughly 100 million people. The work relies on newer equipment, including sensors that track real-time weather, letting operators route power around congested lines instead of building costly new infrastructure. Combined, the projects touch more than 1,500 miles of transmission lines, with broader technological upgrades spanning nearly 21,000 miles, according to PBS NewsHour.

Energy Secretary Chris Wright appeared at a PPL Corp. site in Allentown, Pennsylvania, to promote the funding; the utility has brought two data centers online this year with six more under construction. Officials favored projects that could be completed quickly. The money traces back to the bipartisan infrastructure law signed under President Joe Biden, with the government's $1.9 billion matched by $3.35 billion from recipients.

The announcement comes as data centers' enormous power needs raise fears of blackouts, push electricity bills up faster than inflation, and fuel a political backlash that has become a flashpoint in midterm campaigning. President Donald Trump has continued defending the facilities, warning that communities without them risk becoming "backwards and poor," even as critics in both parties push back and utilities face scrutiny for favoring expensive new construction over efficiency upgrades.

Summarized by PolitiKool from PBS NewsHour’s reporting. Read the full story at PBS NewsHour →