The current national emphasis on meeting the power demands of AI and data centers is urgent, but the U.S. must also focus on providing the energy needs of five manufacturing sectors that are key to the nation’s defense readiness: semiconductor fabrication, aluminum smelting, automobile manufacturing, steelmaking, and petroleum refining.
SAFE’s Center for Grid Security’s short report, “Powering Prosperity: Transmission & America’s Industrial Golden Age,” identified that the U.S. lags China in four out of five of these essential sectors.
On December 16, 2025, SAFE’s hosted a panel of speakers from the aluminum, steel, and energy industries to discuss key findings and focus on how high voltage and interregional lines can bring reliable, affordable, and resilient power to large manufacturers and AI clusters.
Speakers included:
- Hollie Mitchell, Manager of Clean Energy Procurement & Carbon Accounting, Steel Dynamics, Inc
- Matthew Aboud, Senior Vice President, Strategy and Business Development, Century Aluminum
- Patrick Whitty, Senior Vice President, Transmission Public Affairs, Invenergy LLC
- Moderated by: Danielle Russo, Executive Director, SAFE’s Center for Grid Security
