Federal regulators approved a proposal from the nation’s largest grid operator that will give primacy to 50 new power plants, a decision to help meet the country’s growing electricity demand.

Federal electricity regulators on Tuesday approved a proposal from the nation’s largest electric grid operator that could effectively give new natural gas power plants priority in connecting to the grid over renewable energy sources like solar and wind.

The decision, by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, comes as the United States faces the prospect of the largest increase in electricity demand in recent decades. Technology companies are building hundreds of energy-hungry data centers across the country to power artificial intelligence models and other services.

The ruling represents a win for companies involved in extracting natural gas and burning it to generate power — a group that strongly supported President Trump during last year’s election. Environmental groups and renewable energy developers criticized the decision

Keep reading this article on The New York Times Energy & Environment.