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From Huntsville to Montgomery to Mobile, Alabama is firing on all cylinders for America’s technology, manufacturing, and energy industries. Credit for this is in large part due to years of strong leadership from elected leaders like Governor Kay Ivey, Lt. Governor Will Ainsworth, and Attorney General Steve Marshall, who have prioritized policies supportive of these industries and job creators and pushed back on harmful federal policies during the Biden era.
Now that we have a President and administration in Washington committed to unleashing our state’s energy and economic potential, Alabama is becoming a powerhouse on the national stage like never before. Notably, the state is helping lead the way in the global tech race, a race which also relies on our ability to achieve energy dominance.
Here in the Yellowhammer state, officials have been leading the charge on AI development. The Governor’s Task Force on “Generative Artificial Intelligence” (GenAI) – which is a distinct from traditional AI in that it is designed to create new content and generate original outputs – released a report in late 2024 exploring ways to harness the power of GenAI to enhance state functions and enhance services to Alabama citizens. However, for the rapid expansion and deployment of GenAI and traditional AI to be possible, massive energy demands must be met.
AI runs on “hyperscale” data centers that consume enormous amounts of power. According to McKinsey and Company, the power needs of AI data centers are expected to surge roughly three-fold by the end of the decade, going from between 3 and 4 percent of total U.S. power demand today, to between 11 and 12 percent in 2030. Similarly, according to Barclays, AI demands are expected to more than double data center electricity needs by 2030.
Alabama boasts several of these large data centers for some of the biggest names in Big Tech. Meta established its first data center in Huntsville in 2018, and in 2024, Meta expanded its investment by announcing plans to open an $800 million data center in Montgomery. Google operates a data center in Jackson County established in 2018, helping power popular digital services for the world.
Alabama is also the nation’s top automotive producing state, and like AI, this industry consumes massive amounts of energy. Honda, Hyundai, Mazda-Toyota, and Mercedes-Benz all operate within the state, putting Alabama in the top five nationally for automotive production and the number one state nationally for auto exports – with more growth on the horizon. In March, President Trump and Hyundai announced the company will invest $21 billion into U.S. Manufacturing operations. The company plans to invest in improvements at all its production facilities, including Hyundai Motor Manufacturing in Montgomery.
Producing one million vehicles each year, transforming our state agencies with GenAI, and hosting some of our nation’s largest data centers requires energy, and lots of it. Alabama is blessed as an energy-rich state, with reserves of crude oil, natural gas, and coal and is among the top 14 states for total energy production, but to ensure Alabama’s continued success, we must have the ability to source and grow energy production from within our state and neighboring Gulf of America states.
Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall has long been an advocate for energy jobs and Alabama’s Gulf economy, weighing in on prior suits against similar Biden administration overreach, such as the administration’s previous attempt to ban new drilling on federal lands and waters. Thankfully on Day One of his administration, President Trump issued an executive order to help overturn this harmful policy and is calling on Congress and the courts to help safeguard our economy and national security for the future.
As we fight to ramp up production to meet the energy security needs of our nation, we continue to keep environmental and health impacts top of mind. We remain committed to deploying Carbon, Capture, Utilization and Storage (CCUS) technologies, which capture emissions and geologically store them safely and securely deep underground.
From AI and GenAI, to automobile manufacturing, and energy production – Sweet Home Alabama is a national powerhouse, and with the right leadership in place at the state and federal level, the future looks very bright.
