Trump administration threatens 92 GW of new electricity supply with red tape

特朗普政府以繁文缛节威胁 92 吉瓦的新增电力供应

Permitting delays pushed by the Trump administration threaten to derail 92 gigawatts of clean power, even as electricity demand from AI data centers skyrockets. Already, permitting changes and federal funding withdrawals have led to the cancellation of 7 gigawatts of generating capacity on federal land in 2025, according to a new study from consulting firm Wood Mackenzie. The additional scrutiny could cancel another 12 gigawatts on federal land and 80 gigawatts on private property. The federal challenges affect more than $121 billion in investment in the energy space, the report noted.

特朗普政府推动的审批延误正威胁着 92 吉瓦清洁能源项目的推进，而此时人工智能数据中心对电力的需求正呈爆炸式增长。咨询公司伍德麦肯兹（Wood Mackenzie）的一项最新研究显示，审批制度的变更和联邦资金的撤回已经导致 2025 年联邦土地上 7 吉瓦的发电能力被取消。额外的审查可能会导致联邦土地上另外 12 吉瓦以及私有土地上 80 吉瓦的项目被取消。报告指出，这些联邦层面的挑战影响了能源领域超过 1210 亿美元的投资。

Demand for electricity has been climbing in recent years after two decades of zero growth, driven in part by the expansion of data centers to feed the AI boom. Data centers are expected to grow in number and scale in the coming decade, according to market forecasters at BloombergNEF, which in turn pushes up their electricity use nearly threefold by 2035. Meanwhile, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission is requiring grid operators to offer a fast lane for grid connections, though it has done little to address the bottleneck in new generating capacity, which is close to crisis proportions in some regions.

在经历了二十年的零增长后，近年来电力需求持续攀升，部分原因是为支撑人工智能热潮而扩张的数据中心。据彭博新能源财经（BloombergNEF）的市场预测，未来十年数据中心的数量和规模预计将持续增长，这将推动其电力消耗在 2035 年前增长近三倍。与此同时，美国联邦能源监管委员会（FERC）正要求电网运营商为电网连接提供“快速通道”，但该举措在解决新增发电能力瓶颈方面收效甚微，在某些地区，这一瓶颈已接近危机水平。

In the largest grid in the U.S., which also hosts the most data centers, grid operators spent the last four years preventing new generating sources from connecting, effectively freezing supply at a time of rising demand. No wonder the general public is unhappy, and tech companies are forging their own paths by building their own power plants on-site. Where the U.S. has been able to add new power plants, renewables have been the largest contributor. Solar, batteries, and wind represented nearly 90% of the record 53 GW of new generating capacity added in 2025.

在美国最大的电网区域（同时也是数据中心最集中的地区），电网运营商在过去四年里一直阻碍新的发电来源接入，实际上是在需求上升的同时冻结了供应。难怪公众感到不满，科技公司也开始另辟蹊径，在现场自建发电厂。在美国能够新增发电厂的地方，可再生能源是最大的贡献者。太阳能、电池储能和风能占 2025 年创纪录的 53 吉瓦新增发电能力的近 90%。

The increased permitting friction stems from an August 2025 order from Doug Burgum, U.S. Secretary of the Interior, which sought to “rein in environmentally damaging wind and solar projects.” While wind and solar have been the main targets, energy storage projects have been canceled, too, the Wood Mackenzie report found. Most of the permitting woes are concentrated in Oregon, Alabama, Maine, Minnesota, and Montana. Solar projects sited on or near private wetlands appear to be most at risk, while wind farms have been scrutinized under airspace regulations.

审批阻力的增加源于美国内政部长道格·伯格姆（Doug Burgum）于 2025 年 8 月发布的一项行政令，该命令旨在“遏制破坏环境的风能和太阳能项目”。伍德麦肯兹的报告发现，虽然风能和太阳能是主要目标，但储能项目也遭到了取消。大部分审批困境集中在俄勒冈州、阿拉巴马州、缅因州、明尼苏达州和蒙大拿州。位于私人湿地或其附近的太阳能项目似乎风险最大，而风电场则受到空域法规的严格审查。

It’s unclear how solar projects will be affected in the coming years given the Trump administration’s recent decision to lift protections for 80% of U.S. wetlands. Burgum’s order is a marked shift from his previous tenure as governor of North Dakota, during which he oversaw an expansion of wind power within the state and set a target for it to reach net zero carbon emissions by 2030. As recently as 2024, he was boasting about North Dakota’s rich wind resources, which produced a third of the state’s electricity in 2022.

鉴于特朗普政府最近决定取消对美国 80% 湿地的保护，未来几年太阳能项目将受到何种影响尚不清楚。伯格姆的这项命令与他此前担任北达科他州州长期间的表现形成了鲜明对比；在任期间，他曾监督该州风能的扩张，并设定了 2030 年实现净零碳排放的目标。就在 2024 年，他还曾夸耀北达科他州丰富的风能资源，这些资源在 2022 年提供了该州三分之一的电力。