[ExI] Trump Says a Smart President Is All That’s Needed to Rein In A.I.

[John Clark]

 On Fri, Sep 18, 2026  <spike at rainier66.com> wrote:



> *>…As I said before, that is a silly thing to say because electrical
>> energy is fungible….*
>
>
>
> *But in the case of data centers, fungibility is specifically
> countermanded.  They are to generate their own power. *
>

*ME: In the USA do all data centers generate their own power?*

*GROK: " **No.* Most data centers in the United States do not generate
their own primary power; they primarily draw electricity from the local
utility grid.

Data centers have three main ways to obtain power:

   - Buying from the local utility (the most common approach historically
   and currently for the majority of facilities).
   - Power purchase agreements (PPAs), often for renewable attributes.
   - Self-supply via behind-the-meter (on-site or co-located) generation,
   sometimes called “bring your own power.”

Historically and for existing facilities, grid power has been the default.
Nearly all data centers also maintain on-site backup generators (typically
diesel) for outages, but these are not primary power sources.

A growing minority of (especially large AI/hyperscale) projects are adding
or planning significant on-site generation—mostly natural gas turbines or
engines, with some solar + storage, fuel cells, or future nuclear—to bypass
multi-year grid interconnection delays. Estimates for planned capacity show
roughly 25–30% of new/planned U.S. data center capacity involving
behind-the-meter generation in recent analyses (tens of GW announced,
though only a small fraction is currently operational). Projections for
2030 suggest that around 27% of facilities might rely fully on on-site
generation and a higher share (e.g., ~30–38%) may use at least some, up
sharply from near-zero or ~1% in prior years.

Even among those adopting on-site power, many still prefer or plan eventual
grid connections for reliability, cost, and flexibility, using on-site
generation as a bridge or supplement rather than a complete permanent
replacement. Complete off-grid operation remains uncommon.

In short, while self-generation is rising rapidly due to AI-driven demand
and grid constraints, it is far from universal—most U.S. data centers still
rely primarily on the grid."
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