American data centers were already using more electricity than similar facilities anywhere else in the world. And then this week we learned Amazon is backing a data center that could include the biggest, and dirtiest fracked gas power plant ever built in the United States.
Enough is enough – sign on now to tell Congress to rein in big tech’s data center power grab.
According to Canary Media, data centers in the United States accounted for nearly 40% of global data-center power demand in 2025. That is more than any other country, even as governments and companies around the world compete to build the next generation of AI. And investigators with Distilled, a clean energy newsletter, found permits and applications indicating the plan is to install thei gas plant reveal that it would use 35 turbines to generate 7.65 gigawatts of power.
And we’re seeing this same pattern repeat in communities across the country. Amazon has also proposed huge data centers in North Carolina and Appalachia. And allies in New England are fighting plans to sell a whole fleet of peaker plants (small power plants, usually gas-fired, that are only supposed to run a few days a year at “peak” demand times), which would be (mis)used to power data centers 24-7.
Artificial intelligence may be new, but the choice in front of lawmakers is not. They can let some of the richest companies on Earth demand massive amounts of electricity with weak oversight, vague climate promises, and too little public accountability. Or they can require data centers in the United States to meet or exceed best-in-class global efficiency standards, so the country that leads the world in data-center power demand also leads on efficiency, transparency, and clean energy.
Congress should pass binding data-center accountability legislation that requires large facilities to use best-in-class efficiency practices, publicly disclose electricity and water use, run on new additional clean energy, support grid flexibility, and pay their fair share for any new infrastructure their operations require. But since we know Congress isn’t going to act quickly, we’re planning an escalating series of actions to demand change from local, regional, and federal regulators.