Chet Love stopped by the Energy News Beat Podcast, and we had an absolute blast. Chet has a wild background and is working to solve problems in the AI/Data Center and business space. We had fun talking about wind, solar, and how Elon’s vision could hold the key.
Chet was on his game; he even said, “Hold up, we have Stu admitting Solar has a place.” – So here is my warning: do not play poker with him!
I am looking forward to more interviews with Chet once he has his next article out.
The main topics discussed in this podcast are:
1. The state of the US energy industry and grid infrastructure:
– The challenges with renewable energy sources like solar and wind, and the need for a balanced energy mix including natural gas.
– The importance of securing the supply chain and manufacturing capabilities for energy technologies within the US.
– Concerns about grid security and vulnerabilities, especially related to equipment sourced from China.
– The need to invest in and modernize the US energy infrastructure to meet growing demand, especially from data centers and new technologies.
2. The role of government policy and leadership:
– Praise for the policies and actions taken by the Trump administration to support the energy industry and domestic manufacturing.
– Criticism of the Biden administration’s policies and their impact on energy security and affordability.
– The importance of bipartisan, fact-based policymaking focused on serving the best interests of all Americans.
3. The future of technology and innovation:
– The growth of AI, data centers, and other emerging technologies and their increasing energy demands.
– Opportunities for technological innovations like space-based solar and advanced energy storage.
– The need to align technological progress with energy infrastructure development.
4. The importance of American competitiveness and national security:
– Concerns about China’s growing influence and aggression, and the need to counter this through domestic energy and manufacturing capabilities.
– The role of energy security in maintaining US global competitiveness and national security.
In Chet’s Article on Real Clear Energy, he brings up some huge points.
America First Demands International Energy Alliances
Lost in the shouting is a simple, brutal reality: America First cannot mean America alone because the United States is locked in a winner-take-all race with China for artificial intelligence supremacy. We need foreign alliances because AI runs on electricity, electricity runs on energy, and some of the world’s most reliable, market-ready supplies of energy sit under Muslim-majority soil in the Persian Gulf.
This is not ideology. This is arithmetic.
Electricity demand has gone through the roof due to the needs of AI facilities, which are crucial for our national security.
According to the EIA, the United States consumed 4.18 trillion kWh of electricity in 2023. Some 1.8 trillion kWh, or 43.1 percent, of that electricity was generated using natural gas—that’s 600 billion kWh more than the entire amount of energy consumed by Russia that year. And the AI race guarantees that our energy needs will only accelerate.
While America is a net exporter of natural gas, we will doubtlessly require more energy in the future from every source. That’s where our international alliances come in.
In 2024, Qatar was the third largest exporter of Liquid Natural Gas (LNG) in the world, and it plans to double its LNG exports by 2030. American oil and gas companies are collaborating on Qatari natural gas terminals, and Qatar is investing more than $30 billion in American infrastructure projects, such as a major gas export hub underway in Texas.
Meanwhile, the United Arab Emirates announced in November that it’s financing its first-ever private sector LNG and Liquid Petroleum Gas (LPG) fueling hubs while Saudi Arabia just signed a $120 billion agreement that includes gas-to-power investments inside the U.S.
These deals didn’t come out of the blue. In 2024, roughly one-tenth of America’s imported crude oil came from the Persian Gulf, and Saudi Arabia and Iraq were among the top five source countries for U.S. gross petroleum imports in 2023. As energy demands skyrocket, don’t expect America to squander these relationships.
Shipments—especially of natural gas—are a direct good. Not only do we desperately need it to power AI, but natural gas cuts carbon emissions roughly in half compared to coal and virtually eliminates sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxides, and particulates. It is the reason U.S. per-capita CO₂ emissions have fallen 30 percent since 2005.
Check out the rest of the article on Real Clear Energy.
And we also covered “Cleanview Report Finds Nearly 75% Planned On-Site Power at US Data Centers is Natural Gas.”
The report, titled “Bypassing the Grid: How Data Centers Are Building Their Own Power Plants,” analyzes 46 data centers planning behind-the-meter (BTM) power generation, with a combined capacity of 56 gigawatts (GW).
This represents approximately 30% of all planned data center capacity in the United States, according to Cleanview’s project tracker.
Notably, 90% of these projects—accounting for about 50 GW—were announced in 2025 alone, highlighting the rapid acceleration driven by AI’s insatiable energy needs.
Of the 23 GW where generation equipment could be specified through permits and site plans, around 75% is natural gas-fired.
While developers often publicly emphasize renewables, hydrogen, or nuclear options, the short-term installations for 2026 and beyond are almost entirely gas-powered.
This reliance on natural gas stems from its ability to provide reliable, dispatchable power, contrasting with the intermittency of wind and solar. As Anas Alhajji, a prominent energy analyst, noted in a related discussion on X, natural gas complements data centers by offering the high-reliability supply they require, especially as operators seek to reduce flaring and market associated gas from oil fields.
Alhajji’s insights align with broader bullish sentiments on natural gas and LNG, reinforced by surging demand from AI and data infrastructure.
Connect with Chet Love on his LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/chetlove/
Chet’s article on Real Clear Energy America First Demands International Energy Alliances
Get your CEO on the podcast: https://sandstoneassetmgmt.com/media/
Is oil and gas right for your portfolio? https://sandstoneassetmgmt.com/invest-in-oil-and-gas/
Shout out to Reese Energy Consulting for sponsoring the Podcast
Be the first to comment