The Forum for Innovation and Opportunity (FIO) is a nonprofit policy organization working on five connected issues: data centers, nuclear power, drones, the energy grid and the workforce that builds it all. We publish research, brief lawmakers and work with states and communities on practical ways to get it built.
The Grid
Artificial intelligence, new factories, electric vehicles, national defense. All of it plugs into the same grid, and Americans are about to use more electricity than ever.
Record U.S. electricity use forecast for 2026, and again in 2027.
Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration, Short-Term Energy Outlook, Sept. 2026The Data Center
This is where artificial intelligence lives, and it runs on power. One campus planned in Saline Township, Michigan, needs 1.4 gigawatts.
Data centers used 4–5% of U.S. electricity in 2024. By 2030, it could be as much as 17%.
Source: EPRI, Feb. 2026The Reactor
Tech companies are turning to nuclear. Microsoft is bringing back a reactor at Three Mile Island. Meta has signed deals for up to 6.6 gigawatts. But every announced project combined covers less than a fifth of what data centers are expected to need.
More than 1,300 gigawatts of new power generation are waiting in line to connect to the grid. The median wait is over five years.
Source: Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Queued Up 2026The Drone
Drones inspect power lines and reactors faster and more safely than a crew on a tower. They also fly where they shouldn't. Michigan now hosts a national range for military drone training, but the federal rule that lets commercial drones fly beyond the pilot's sight is still pending.
350 drone detections over 100 U.S. military installations in one year.
Source: NORTHCOM testimony to the Senate, Feb. 2025The Attack
This summer, hackers took over controls at water systems in at least seven states, including nine in Michigan. Investigators have found foreign state hackers hidden inside America's energy and water networks, some for five years.
Water systems attacked in at least 7 states; 9 in Michigan.
Sources: FBI alert, July 30, 2026; Michigan EGLE, Aug. 2026The People
Every reactor, data center and power line needs someone to build it and someone to run it. Electricians are already the bottleneck on data center construction.
Construction needs 349,000 new workers in 2026 alone.
Source: Associated Builders and Contractors, Jan. 2026One System
When one part stalls, all of it stalls. The Forum for Innovation and Opportunity follows the whole system and works on the fixes that let it get built.
The Forum for Innovation and Opportunity is a nonprofit policy organization that studies the power, computing, autonomous systems and workforce America needs to compete — and works with states, communities and industry on practical ways to get them built.
Most groups cover one piece. Nuclear groups cover reactors. Tech groups cover data centers. Education groups cover schools. But the pieces are connected. A slow permit for a transmission line holds up a reactor, a data center and the jobs behind both. FIO works where the pieces meet.
Five issues, one shared space. Each segment of the FIO mark stands for one of them.
The buildings that run artificial intelligence are arriving faster than the power, water and rules to support them.
The most reliable carbon-free power we have, and the hardest to build on time.
A new industry, a new workforce and a new threat, all arriving at once.
More demand, more sources, more attackers, on a grid built for the last century.
Every megawatt and every data center needs people we haven't trained yet.
Stories that cross two or more issues. FIO's signature section.
Permits measured in months, not decades.
Nuclear, gas, wind, solar and storage: whatever keeps the lights on and bills down.
The places that host new infrastructure get a real say and real benefits.
Protect power and water from hackers and hostile drones.
Apprenticeships and community-college pathways that lead to real jobs.
Every piece answers one question: and what does this touch?
We start with the data: what's being built, what's stuck and what it costs.
We find who's affected: the workers, ratepayers, towns and companies.
We name the real problem, including where it crosses into other issues.
We write practical policy with a specific recommendation.
We take it to the legislators, regulators and local officials who can act.
One brief per issue, plus a flagship tracker. Every number carries its source.
Coming October 2026
Coming October 2026
Coming October 2026
Coming October 2026
Coming October 2026
Data center projects, reactor restarts, grid-connection backlogs and drone rules, updated monthly.
In developmentStates are competing for the next economy's factories, data centers, reactors and drone industry. FIO builds statewide playbooks that connect the pieces: the power, the sites, the rules and the workforce.
State Playbook No. 1: Michigan Unmanned Systems — in preparation.
Today's top stories on power, computing, drones and the workforce, updated every morning.
Preview: sample headlines from recent coverage. Links open the original source.
Open The FIO WireThe day's news on power, computing, drones and the workforce, and where they meet. Free, every morning at 6:30 a.m. Eastern. See a sample edition.
The Forum for Innovation and Opportunity is a nonprofit policy organization that studies the power, computing, autonomous systems and workforce America needs to compete — and works with states, communities and industry on practical ways to get them built.
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