Embrace trade-offs & a civic case for abundant energy.
A growing number of hyperscaler and data center leaders are now part of the Both of These Things Are True audience. So this one is addressed directly to those leaders.
You built your businesses on the assumption that clean energy ambition and endless digital progress were compatible.
You believed that the energy transition would be easy and would support both.
In other words, you believed The Myth of an Easy Energy Transition.
It was understandable—and you weren’t alone! Much of the political left—and developed world—was making the same bet. The Myth seemed to bless both our collective energy ambitions and aggressive climate commitments under a halo of moral righteousness paired with free-market growth that somehow made the transition cost-free.
And under The Myth, energy companies, sources, and solutions were sorted into villains and heroes. You joined in. It’s all a little awkward now.
Welcome to The Moment, in which The Myth’s contradictions are being ruthlessly exposed. I daresay you need us as much as society needs you.
Your best move: Join energy leaders in making a civic case for abundant energy.
Here’s why: The energy demand you’re serving is real. The need for infrastructure build-out is urgent. But the community opposition to how you’re meeting these needs is getting existentially scary. And the climate commitments remain, even if quietly removed from certain websites.
The upshot? The gap between what was promised under The Myth and what must now be built in The Moment is becoming impossible to ignore.
Both of these things are true:
- AI infrastructure is essential to the next era of economic growth.
- You have not yet earned permission to build the energy future it requires.
So you find yourself in the same boat as the energy industry: Being essential is not enough.
The situation: Necessity does not create legitimacy
Energy leaders know this problem well. We have spent years assuming that because our products are central to a well-functioning society, the civic case for them is obvious. But even today, with energy prices at the heart of so many public debates, it is not. Necessity does not create legitimacy. Centrality does not create trust. You still have to explain—over and over—the public value of your work.
Welcome to the party—welcome to The Moment! I don’t need to explain this point to you—your advertisements and recent commitments promising to pay your fair share convey your recognition that you missed the first opportunity to drive the narrative.
But now you have a choice: Will you remain in defensive, reactive mode (one that energy leaders know well), or will you get out in front and create a vision of the energy future?
Data centers are becoming recognized as the critical infrastructure they are. Even before AI, they provided central services on which people and businesses depended. Now, add in AI—and data centers are clearly foundational to productivity, national competitiveness, scientific discovery, and economic growth.
But none of that means communities will welcome data centers’ land use, power needs, water demand, or rate impact. The public can depend on your services and still oppose what you need. (Just ask a refiner or natural gas utility!) Policymakers can celebrate innovation in the morning and spend the afternoon berating companies that appear to be breaking climate promises, raising bills, or overwhelming local communities.
This is not a reason to retreat from the public spotlight or quietly revise climate targets. Nor is it an appropriate time to simply say “AI is the future, so get out of the way.”
Seize the day
You helped sell The Myth, benefited from it, and built plans on top of it. Now AI has made the gap between The Myth’s vision and today’s reality impossible to hide. So now, you need to tell the truth about what growth requires: to talk about the energy needs and the trade-offs inherent in infrastructure build-out.
Your best response: Put forward a vision of the future worth the trade-offs paired with a civic case for energy abundance.
For all your stakeholders, you need to explain why this growth matters, who benefits, which trade-offs are real, what infrastructure must be built, how emissions will be managed, and why communities should believe that your growth can serve them, too.
On the plus side: The societal needs, facts, and on-the-ground realities are with you. (As they are with the energy industry!)
But you must craft your new narrative before others do it for you. Acknowledge that demand is rising faster than the old story allowed. Admit that reliability, affordability, and emissions all matter at the same time. Invest in firm, lower-emissions energy solutions. Be transparent about trade-offs.
The next era of energy leadership will not belong to the company leaders who simply insist their work is essential. It will belong to the leaders who can explain what must be built, why it matters, and how it serves the public good.
Please forward this email to three colleagues! Hearting this piece helps support my work—thank you!
Welcome to the show,
Tisha
