# Opinion: Brian Harrell Says America Can't Win the AI Race Without More Power, and That Data Centers, Not Households, Should Pay for It

The Fox News op-ed calls for an all-of-the-above power build-out, faster permitting, stronger grid cybersecurity and contracts that keep data center costs off residential bills.

- Section: [Opinion](https://rightnewsrightnow.com/opinion/)
- Published: 2026-11-01
- By: RightNewsRightNow Staff
- Canonical page: https://rightnewsrightnow.com/articles/opinion-brian-harrell-ai-race-will-be-won-by-the-nation-that-delivers-electricity-data-centers-pay-fair-share-fox-news/

This is a summary of an opinion column. The views are the author's, not ours.

The argument. Brian Harrell writes in Fox News Opinion that the AI race "will be won not just by technology companies, but by the nation that can deliver reliable, affordable and secure electricity." Data centers need huge amounts of power and reliable grid connections, he says. Without them, "advanced AI systems are little more than expensive hardware waiting for a connection."

Build faster. He says new generation, transmission lines and substations take years to plan, permit and build. He wants utilities and data center developers to coordinate far earlier and asks Washington to streamline permitting and cut regulatory delays so investors have long-term certainty.

Who pays. Harrell argues that "residential customers and small businesses should not subsidize infrastructure built primarily to serve trillion-dollar technology companies." He backs long-term power purchase agreements, dedicated infrastructure investments, minimum billing commitments, transparent cost allocation and safeguards against ratepayers being stuck with stranded costs if projects are scaled back. He cites the White House's Ratepayer Protection Pledge as support for that principle.

All of the above. He says no single source can solve every region's needs. He lists natural gas for dispatchable generation, nuclear for baseline power, hydro, wind, solar and storage where they make economic sense, and existing coal plants where continued operation is economic and legal. Energy abundance, he writes, is "a national security imperative."

Grid security. Harrell says cybersecurity gets too little attention. He calls for joint incident response plans between utilities and data center operators, realistic exercises, shared threat intelligence, network segmentation, multifactor authentication and tighter vendor security. "A stolen password should never become a gateway to disabling the power supply," he writes. He cautions that cybersecurity must not become an excuse for expensive, rigid mandates.

Our note: the piece gives no cost estimates or timelines for the build-out it describes.

## Source

Original reporting: [Fox News (opinion)](https://www.foxnews.com/opinion/brian-harrell-americas-ai-revolution-cant-charge-forward-without-lots-energy)