Powering the AI Decade

Powering the AI Decade is a half-day policy forum bringing together policymakers, regulators, industry leaders, investors and experts to examine the critical infrastructure, energy and policy decisions shaping America's AI future. As the United States enters a new phase of AI expansion, the availability of data centers, power, transmission capacity and supporting infrastructure has become central to both economic competitiveness and public policy. At the same time, questions around permitting, cost allocation, taxation, disclosure, energy demand and regulatory oversight are increasingly shaping where and how the next generation of AI infrastructure will be built. Jointly organized by Knowledge Networks through its Regulating AI platform and The American Bazaar, the forum will bring together a deliberately curated group of senior stakeholders from government, industry, capital and the advisory community for substantive discussions on the policy and commercial issues that will define the AI infrastructure landscape. Taking place in the lead-up to the 2027 legislative and congressional sessions, Powering the AI Decade will explore the decisions that could influence the economics and pace of America's AI and data center build-out for the coming decade. The forum will feature a keynote, policy-focused panel discussions and a signature closing session, complemented by networking opportunities and a working lunch. Who Should Attend Powering the AI Decade is designed for senior professionals and decision-makers whose work intersects with AI infrastructure, data centers, energy, regulation, investment and technology policy. Why You Should Attend Agenda 10:30 AM - 11:25 AM — Registration & Networking Lunch 11:25 AM – 11:35 AM — Opening Remarks 11:35 AM – 11:55 AM — Keynote: America's Digital Infrastructure at an Inflection Point A keynote speech to demand growth, grid readiness, and the federal priorities that will shape data center policy over the next two years. The keynote establishes the throughline for the entire program: these are no longer technical questions but decisions with immediate political and commercial consequences. 11:55 AM – 12:35 AM — Panel 1: The Builders: What It Actually Takes to Get Built Chief executives and data center leadership from hyperscalers, REITs, and major developers speak candidly about what it actually takes to build at frontier scale — power availability, water access, siting constraints, and the community terms that shape every project. Rather than focusing on paperwork and process, this panel asks what would genuinely accelerate delivery on the ground. 12:35 PM – 01:15 PM — Panel 2: Permission to Build: Federal, State and Local Members of Congress, state legislators, and industry association leaders unpack who actually holds the authority to decide where America builds. The conversation is grounded in legislation currently moving through statehouses and Congress — permitting jurisdiction, federal preemption, measurement standards, and incentive structures — rather than abstract policy debate. 01:15 PM – 01:30 PM — Networking Break 1:30 PM – 02:10 PM — Panel 3: Who Pays for the Grid Utility leadership, grid operators, state regulators, and independent analysts confront what may be the single most consequential commercial question of the next two years: who pays for the power new data centers require. The panel tracks live decisions being made simultaneously in Richmond, at PJM, and at FERC over large-load tariffs, cost allocation, and the interconnection queue. 02:10 PM – 02: 45 PM — Panel 4: Financing the Build: Capital, Funding and Policy Risk Infrastructure investors, private capital principals, and data center capital markets leaders explain how policy risk — not capital scarcity — has become the real constraint on deployment. With capital abundant, the panel examines how permitting delays, tariff uncertainty, and community opposition now get priced directly into underwriting decisions, and what would unlock faster investment. 2:45 PM – 03: 20 PM — Signature Session: AI on the Ballot: What the Public Is Telling Washington County leadership, public-opinion researchers, community advocates, and industry public affairs voices treat public acceptance itself as a delivery risk. Presented under Knowledge Networks' "AI on the Ballot" banner and designed to be nonpartisan in both substance and format, the session examines what actually drives local sentiment, why some projects clear approval while others stall, and what that means heading into 2027. 3:20 PM — Closing Remarks