Robert Bryce

Robert Bryce is an author, journalist, speaker, and film producer who writes and speaks about energy, power, politics, and innovation. He is the author of six books, including A Question of Power: Electricity and the Wealth of Nations, and producer of the Juice documentaries on electricity and the grid.

Gigawatt-Scale Data Centers Turn AI Growth Into a Local Fight

At a Hoover Institution discussion on the local effects of the AI boom, energy and policy experts argued that data centers have moved from routine commercial development to gigawatt-scale infrastructure fights. Dado Slezak of QTS said the projects can deliver jobs, tax revenue, grid investment, and local benefits, but Robert Bryce and other panelists warned that communities increasingly see them as vehicles for higher power costs, water risk, farmland loss, and big-tech intrusion. The central issue, the panel suggested, is whether developers and regulators can make the benefits credible before local opposition defines the projects as a loss of control.

Hoover InstitutionJun 8, 202621 min read