US Surpasses China in Gas Power Construction for AI

The United States has overtaken China in the construction of new gas-fired power generation, now developing twice the capacity of its rival to meet the energy demands of artificial intelligence datacenters. Analysis from Global Energy Monitor shows US gas power capacity in development rose 50% since January to reach 378GW.

Donald Trump has championed this expansion by eliminating environmental reviews and urging state governors to reduce taxes for datacenter developers. The growth is driven by major tech firms including Google, OpenAI, and Amazon. Some companies, such as Elon Musk's xAI, have utilized smaller, less efficient turbines to bypass equipment backlogs.

The rapid build-out has triggered local opposition over climate impacts, rising electricity costs, and water shortages in drought-prone regions. In response to these concerns, New York became the first state to enact a temporary ban on the permitting and construction of new hyper-scale datacenters in July.