The U.S. Department of Energy is leveraging federal land to win the global AI race, and the Mountain West could have a key role to play.
The agency selected four sites to build and innovate data center development, and one is at the Idaho National Laboratory, which is part of the Energy Department.
The lab’s site stretches across the high desert of eastern Idaho, roughly 85% the size of Rhode Island. It has a long history of nuclear energy research, and now, commercial developers are set to be invited in to build what could be multiple data centers.
“It has the advantage, right, of having existing nuclear facilities already on that site location,” said Chris Ritter, division director of scientific computing and AI at the lab.
He said the site is developing small nuclear modular reactors — which many data centers plan to rely on — but they’re not here yet. He said to meet the surge in energy consumption nationwide now, the U.S. must quickly deploy several energy sources, including natural gas.
“If we don't have the energy generation capacity, it's really hard to win the AI race,” Ritter said.
Data centers are popping up across the Mountain West region, which has swaths of open land. The three other federal sites selected for AI data center development are in Kentucky, Tennessee and Georgia. Specific private sector partners could be selected to develop on these sites by the end of year.
"By leveraging DOE land assets for the deployment of AI and energy infrastructure, we are taking a bold step to accelerate the next Manhattan Project — ensuring U.S. AI and energy leadership,” Energy Secretary Chris Wright said in a press release.
This story was produced by the Mountain West News Bureau, a collaboration between Wyoming Public Media, Nevada Public Radio, Boise State Public Radio in Idaho, KUNR in Nevada, KUNC in Colorado and KANW in New Mexico, with support from affiliate stations across the region. Funding for the Mountain West News Bureau is provided in part by CPB.
