US Energy Secretary Chris Wright Talks Gas Prices, Data Centers

**SPEAKER_1** (0:02)
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**Joe Mathieu** (0:07)
Kailey, these stories all collide somehow when we talk about energy prices and you introduce the idea of data center, which many believe is driving electric bills higher and it started a conversation about a closed circuit around these facilities. And here's a new take on this. You probably heard about the NextEra story. It was out first thing this morning. NextEra teaming up with Brookfield to build a hundred billion dollar data center campus.
In this case though, it's going to be run by a nuclear facility in Kentucky. They're basically relighting a nuclear plant powered by uranium that will be home to a data center campus.

**Kailey Leinz** (0:46)
Yeah, so this is a generating plant that is coming with it. It all feeds into this rate payer protection notion. We've heard so much from the president about, he was just at the EPA last week announcing an expansion of that rate payer protection pledge. We essentially want these data centers to be bringing their own power to be insulating everyday consumers from the higher utility costs that could come with them.

**Joe Mathieu** (1:05)
This is down near Paducah. The Paducah gaseous diffusion plant and the secretary of energy is there right now because the administration is very much supporting this effort. We're glad to have Chris Wright with us. Mr. Secretary, welcome back to Bloomberg TV and radio. It's good to see you and it looks like the weather is nice today in Kentucky. This plant made uranium for the US during the Cold War. Privately funded, so I'm curious, what is the extent of government involvement and exposure here, other than simply transferring the site? Is that why you're in Kentucky?

**Chris Wright** (1:40)
Yeah, I'm here. Joe, you summarized it well. We're here just to celebrate the Department of Energy is leasing these federal lands to multiple private companies to build some new nuclear technologies as you spoke about. Also, to build 2 gigawatts of new natural gas power generation that will serve both a 1.2 gigawatt data center that will be built here. That's the majority of that $100 billion.
But also to add 800 megawatts of additional power onto the grid here, which will benefit all of the surrounding states. This is sort of a cornerstone move of the Trump rate payer protection pledge, driving prices down and industry and job creation up.

**Kailey Leinz** (2:25)
As I'm sure you're well aware, Mr. Secretary, there is a live conversation happening in and around financial markets right now as to whether there is over investment happening in data centers, that too much is being poured into the infrastructure. And I wonder if it does turn out that we have a surplus of these. If you expect the power that is being generated by them as part of these large projects is going to stick, that that won't ultimately leave the grid. What if we see some kind of data center collapse?

**Chris Wright** (2:53)
No, it definitely won't leave the grid. In fact, it's one of the great things data center development is doing is it's funding and underwriting the development of so much new power generation capacity.
Look, I think the upside for artificial intelligence is tremendous, but if there did turn out to be over investment and surplus of artificial intelligence, we would love to have the extra power. That will allow reshoring manufacturing in the US and continual downward pressure on electricity prices.

**Joe Mathieu** (3:23)
Interesting, Mr. Secretary, the NIMBY issue is one I'm sure you're familiar with, and I wonder if what you're announcing today in Kentucky is an answer to it. This is sort of the ultimate form of a closed circuit data center from what it sounds like. Would that include water as well? Will you have your own water supply for this campus?

**Chris Wright** (3:44)
Absolutely, but as you know, a modern data center uses precious little water, these closed loop cooling systems. You build a giant data center and it uses as much water as a McDonald's. So we do have water supply here. We are building new power generation. But you're right, using federal lands that was already an industrial site during the early part of the Cold War, and repurposing it for a data center, tremendous community support to have that development going on here. And we are doing this at multiple locations across the Department of Energy. Taking old industrial sites, bringing development to communities that are hungry for these investments, for these tax dollars and for these job opportunities.

**Kailey Leinz** (4:28)
Well, yeah, how much opportunity is there, Mr. Secretary, to tap federal lands further? Where should we be looking for the projects of the future?