- Anthropic is becoming increasingly reliant on fossil fuels as the queue to join the power grid grows
- Competing with other hyperscalers and conflict in the Middle East is increasing fuel costs
- Trump is trying to increase fossil fuel energy production while simultaneously killing renewable energy projects
In order to meet the massive power demands of AI data centers, Anthropic is becoming increasingly reliant on natural gas to fuel its buildout.
The United States power grid is lagging behind on the demands of an enormous number of requests for grid connections from data centers, prompting many developers to equip their sites with natural gas burning turbine generators.
While this does counter having to build the necessary grid infrastructure and anger from consumers over rising electricity prices, it has left Anthropic vulnerable to fluctuations in fossil fuel prices made worse by conflict in the Middle East.
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Data centers turn to fossil fuels
“Competition for access to electrical supply and data center locations with adequate power availability is intense,” Anthropic said in documents filed with the US Securities and Exchange Commission as the company prepares to go public.
Anthropic also acknowledged in the same filing that increasing global temperatures – caused by climate change – would contribute towards increased operating costs, leaving the company in something of an impasse. To remain competitive, the company needs to continue expanding data center capacity, and the only way to do that is to rely on fossil fuels.
But the same tactic that Anthropic is using to cut down wait times for grid connections is also being used by other hyperscalers and AI companies. Anthropic has predicted that “This competition could drive up the price of natural gas.”
The Trump administration has attempted to make it easier than ever for new fossil fuel projects to be approved, scrubbing the climate-improving red tape in favor of quick input to the energy grid. Old fossil fuel sites, shuttered and set for demolition by the Biden administration, have also been brought back online in an attempt to quell the growing backlog of new grid connections.
But in order to appease some of the dissatisfaction of Americans dissatisfied with the enormous buildout of data centers and the associated downstream costs, Trump has urged developers to shoulder the costs of new grid infrastructure and contributory price increases – which Anthropic said “could adversely affect our cost structure and limit our ability to scale our compute infrastructure, develop and deploy our models, and service our customers.”
Anger against data centers is snowballing
From the harms to local environments and the wider climate, to noise pollution and lowered property values – data centers have become a great unifier across the political spectrum as Democrats and Republicans oppose the unprecedented buildout of AI data centers across the US.
Two-thirds of Americans said they oppose the construction of new facilities, and it has become a key issue in the lead up to the most important election of 2026: the November midterms. Candidates aligned with Trump’s AI first rhetoric have been buoyed by political action committees, but face a difficult time at the polls.
One of the biggest issues facing everyday Americans is the cost of living. Rising energy prices caused in tandem by the US war on Iran and the increased demand from AI data centers is at the front of voters’ minds, and prices are unlikely to come down any time soon.
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benedict.collins@futurenet.com (Benedict Collins)
