Congress’s Permitting Bill Is a ‘Massive Giveaway’ to the AI Data Center Industry, Critics Warn

On Monday, the Senate voted to advance a bipartisan bill aimed at easing the construction of new energy infrastructure. The bill, the Bipartisan American Affordability and Jobs Act (BAAJA), has a broad base of support, including from labor leaders who contend it will produce thousands of jobs and clean energy proponents who believe it could unlock wind and solar. Its sponsors are hoping to pass the bill before the current Congress ends in January. But the bill has also received vehement blowback from a growing coalition of anti-data center critics, who argue that it would accelerate the buildout of an industry that Americans resoundingly voted against in the midterm elections. BAAJA does address affordability concerns by forcing data centers to pay the full cost of the upgrades they trigger, and contains transmission reforms designed to modernize the grid. But it also strips back environmental protections and could lead to more data centers powered by gas and built on public lands.Hundreds of local and national organizations have signed letters urging Congress not to pass the bill as written, including the Sierra Club and the Natural Resources Defense Council. Conversely, many indu...