Artificial intelligence enthusiasm and energy needs clash on Healey’s docket

GOV. MAURA HEALEY stood at the dais of the state House of Representatives and pledged to go big on artificial intelligence. And she explicitly acknowledged the energy costs that could come with that.

“AI is where the internet was 30 years ago, and it’s going to change everything,” she said. “States will either help steer AI’s impact, or they will struggle to keep pace.”

A recently signed climate law would speed the permitting and siting process for clean energy, Healey said. “We are building new homes, labs, data centers, and manufacturing plants,” she said. “We need this power, and we’re going to go get it.”

It was mid-January 2025, still on the early end of what would become a surging bipartisan backlash against the core infrastructure supporting the AI boom — data centers. Donald Trump would return to office just days later, almost immediately signing the first of a series of executive orders aimed at rolling back the clock on green energy projects like solar and wind.

This week on The Codcast, CommonWealth Beacon reporters Jennifer Smith and Jordan Wolman look at how the Healey administration is trying to juggle the governor’s AI enthusiasm with an energy landscape hitting residents squarely in the pocketbook.