I recently read this article on Construction Dive and it got me thinking.  

Many states in the past several years have taken action to address climate change by closing (or planning to close) coal-fired and other fossil fuel-powered generation facilities. Those decisions were made prior to the current boom of data center construction and the attendant power consumption needs that go along with the operation of those data centers. As a result, those states are facing an opportunity that is not available to the states that did not close power plants or that are currently in the process of permitting and constructing new power generation facilities.

Those states that chose to prematurely retire power generation or who refused to extend the life of power generation facilities may be able to simply undo their previous decisions and extend the life of those facilities. In other words, they can just say “Oops, we didn't know this was going to happen because no one really understood what was going to happen," and can allow those plants to continue operation or, in many cases, to restart their operations. States that recognize this opportunity have the chance to secure lucrative data center projects and the current and future economic benefits that go along with them. Moreover, they will have a real competitive advantage over states where generating capacity is maxed out and where new generation facilities are necessary which will take years to come online.

The trillion-dollar question is whether anyone in government will have the fortitude to admit that the situation has changed and seize the opportunity in front of them!