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OPINION:
Despite partisan divides, the Trump and Biden administrations have prioritized U.S. leadership in artificial intelligence, recognizing its critical importance in the face of rising global competition. Central to this effort is building robust AI infrastructure, particularly data centers, within the United States.
However, a recent McKinsey study reveals a significant U.S. data center capacity deficit, requiring a doubling of current capacity in a fraction of the time it took to build the existing infrastructure. Goldman Sachs estimates that $720 billion in electric grid investments may be necessary by 2030 to meet the energy demands of these data centers.
Still, as we harness the potential for American innovation in the race for AI infrastructure, there’s a hidden danger.
This rapid expansion increases construction activity, elevating the risk of damaging critical underground utilities. Even before the AI boom, damage to buried infrastructure — power, water, fiber, natural gas and other utility lines — cost the U.S. $30 billion annually. That’s one incident almost every three minutes.
Nearly 200,000 times per year, these essential utilities are damaged by digging activities from large-scale construction to do-it-yourself projects. A staggering 76% of buried utility damage stems from six root causes, including failure to contact 811 before digging (the national call-before-you-dig call center). According to Common Ground Alliance data, roughly half of this damage is to telecommunications utilities, such as internet lines, followed by natural gas lines.
Internet outages are inconvenient, but striking high-voltage power or high-pressure gas lines can be catastrophic. Last year, a fiber line damage incident disrupted 911 services across four states, and last month, a gas line explosion killed a child in Missouri.
The push for rapid AI data center construction, including retrofitting buildings such as malls and warehouses, exacerbates these risks. These older sites may have poorly mapped or aging utility lines.
Little funding is allocated to protecting underground utilities at the national level. With the urgent national goals of halving utility damage in the next five years and doubling energy capacity, we must minimize unexpected and uncontrolled outages caused by utility damage.
State laws regarding 811 requirements and enforcement are inconsistent. Many states have exemptions for homeowners, transportation agencies and agricultural operations, among others. Even with comprehensive laws, enforcement is often lacking.
As AI infrastructure expands, protecting underground utilities must be a fundamental part of the process. State lawmakers and regulators should prioritize bipartisan legislation and education initiatives that mandate 811 notification, support state 811 call centers and safeguard vital underground infrastructure.
In Congress, the bipartisan PIPES Act previously found significant support within the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, including with Chairman Sam Graves, Missouri Republican, and ranking member Rick Larsen, Washington Democrat. The bill would provide a framework and funding for protecting underground energy infrastructure.
The need for speed in data center construction is undeniable, but it should never compromise the safety of the communities in which the centers are being built or the safety of those putting their lives on the line to build them. A few days of planning, locating and marking buried utilities can prevent significant delays, injuries and fatalities.
Winning the fight for the AI future is a matter of data security, energy security and national security, but we shouldn’t forget for whom we’re fighting: the very Americans under whose feet lie 20 million miles of critical infrastructure.
That, too, is a future worth protecting.
• Sarah K. Magruder Lyle is executive director of the Damage Prevention Action Center and president and CEO of the Common Ground Alliance. She was appointed by the Trump administration in 2019 to the federal advisory committee on pipelines and hazardous materials safety.
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