AI policy and geopolitics shaping energy infrastructure planning

What’s happening: National policy on AI

A National Policy Framework for Artificial Intelligence released in mid-March urges Congress to establish a single, federal AI rulebook, preempting most state regulations and accelerating U.S. AI leadership. The framework calls for streamlined federal permitting for AI infrastructure, enabling faster data center and compute cluster buildouts. For the energy sector, this accelerates demand for on-site and behind-the-meter generation, including natural gas, renewables, and hybrid systems, as AI developers seek reliability, speed, and insulation from grid constraints—creating new opportunities for energy generation, fueling, and power logistics.

Why it matters for energy supply chains

When permitting and regulatory structures change, infrastructure timelines and sourcing needs can shift quickly—especially where energy generation and grid reliability intersect with large-scale compute demand. For energy shippers and energy-adjacent supply chains, this can influence planning assumptions around project buildouts and equipment/material flows tied to energy infrastructure.

What’s happening: Crude oil markets are heavily connected

The global oil market is structured around different grades of crude and where those grades are produced. Nearly 70% of U.S. oil refinery capacity is designed to process heavy sour crude (also referred to as “complex” crude), and the majority of this complex crude is imported from Canada, Mexico, and Venezuela.

While most Middle East crude is exported to Asian markets, disruption in the Middle East can still create global price volatility because supply shortages and price increases can ripple through crude grades—impacting the price of gasoline and goods in the United States. Roughly 20% of global oil passes through the Strait of Hormuz, which is large enough for the world’s biggest crude oil tankers.

What energy shippers can do now

• Stress-test assumptions for price-driven volatility: Disruptions in one region can ripple globally through interconnected crude markets—build that reality into cost and risk planning.
• Map exposure to crude grade and import dependencies: With U.S. refinery capacity aligned heavily to heavy sour crude and imports noted from Canada, Mexico, and Venezuela, consider where upstream dependencies may influence downstream availability and costs.
• Monitor infrastructure signals tied to AI buildouts: The AI policy framework described could accelerate permitting and enable behind the meter generation—watch for how that affects equipment demand and site logistics around energy infrastructure.

Smaller, smarter solid-state transformers on the rise

Solid-state transformers (SSTs) are quickly moving from the pilot phase to early-stage deployment. Increasingly, they are seen in new data centers and EV charging builds, as well as grid modernization projects. This means new options and logistics challenges are opening up for engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) firms and managers in the energy sector.

What you should know

• As opposed to traditional transformers, which passively step voltage up or down, SSTs use active electronics and specialized components to manage power actively.
• They are bi-directional and can handle both AC and DC.
• SSTs can be modular and/or cabinet sized. They are much smaller than traditional transformers, which can weigh tens or even hundreds of tons.
• Right now, they are more easily available than traditional transformers, which can see multi-year lead times.
• But they are also more sensitive to factors such as vibrations and humidity.

What it means for logistics

• SSTs create a different risk profile: Less need for heavy‑haul transport, but increasing sensitivity to shock, vibration, and environmental conditions during transit.
• From route constraints to handling precision: Heavy hauling equipment, bridge capacity, and escorts matter less; packaging, securement, and climate control matter more.
• Sequencing challenges: Because SSTs consolidate functions that once arrived as multiple components, delivery timing plays a bigger role.
• Supplier complexity: SSTs often come from newer, more global supplier ecosystems, requiring earlier visibility into port selection, lead times, and cross‑border risks.
• Early logistics involvement matters more, not less: While SSTs can simplify physical transport, they introduce new logistical assumptions that, if not addressed during design and procurement, can create delays later.

Tariff updates

On April 2, 2026, the White House issued a new proclamation adjusting the tariffs on the imports of aluminum, steel, and copper into the United States effective April 6, 2026. The action raises tariff rates, expands the duty base, and tightens enforcement, with immediate implications for importers of metal products and metal-containing derivatives.

Additionally, Section 232 tariffs now apply to the entire customs value of covered aluminum, steel, and copper articles and their derivative products, regardless of actual metal content, eliminating prior valuation approaches that applied duties only to the metal portion of the article. For more information and details, see our Client Advisory on the topic. 

For other developments about potential IEEPA tariff refunds, Section 122 application, and the process for Section 301 investigations, go to the Trade Policy & Customs section of this report.

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