Have you seen theheadlinesabout OpenAI’s new letter andblogto the White House? The big takeaway is that OpenAI says that “electrons are the new oil," and they’re right.
Specifically, OpenAI told the White House that the biggest thing standing in the way of America’s global AI leadership and competing with China’s AI leadership is… electricity.
Not innovation, not chips, not workers, and not finance. What’s holding us back is POWER—the electron kind of power, the mighty kwh, the juice!
Of course, Open AI is right. America can build data centers across the U.S., but without more electricity, we can’t turn them on without causing massive blackouts – not the rolling blackouts we’re used too – I am talking large, massive scale multi-day outages are around the corner unless we act fast.
Meanwhile, China has added over429 gigawattsof new electricity capacity in 2024 while the U.S. added only56 gigawatts.That is 7.5x more than the US.
OpenAI calls this a massive “electron gap.” To close the electron gap, they’re asking the U.S. to set a national target of building 100 GW of new capacity per year. But how do we do that? How do we double our annual capacity additions to the grid going forward?
While Open AI only mentioned "solar" once in its letter, we all know that the only way to build 100 GW that fast is with solar and energy storage. Solar and storage represented over 85% of new electricity additions to the grid in 2024 and we all know how long it takes to develop energy infrastructure here in the US – the interconnection queues are filled with – you guessed it – solar and energy storage.
Open AI’s letter says that achieving this 100 GW per year goal will have lot of benefits. It will streamline permitting and interconnection. It will create new jobs in manufacturing, electrical trades, and construction. And it will also strengthen and modernize our grid and transmission infrastructure.
So, when OpenAI says, “Unlocking electrons will unlock America’s future,” I couldn’t agree more.
I’m proud to say that Renewable Properties’ solar projects are helping America to close our electron gap and unlock affordable clean energy for consumers and businesses, including data centers.
Adding solar electrons to the grid is no longer just about decarbonization. It’s about global competitiveness, it’s about infrastructure security, and it’s about the reindustrialization of America for AI infrastructure and technology jobs—including solar electron jobs.
And that’s Watt’s the Deal!
.svg)
