By Marshall Terrill |

August 18, 2025

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Arizona's infrastructure needs to expand exponentially during the next decade with significantly more power and water — a big challenge in the desert. But some technological innovations are pointing the way forward, and the state needs to act now, according to a member of Congress who spoke at ASU last week.

Nuclear energy will play an important role in meeting the state's future needs, but no expansion of its generating capacity is planned until 2040.

"That's 15 years; hence, we will lose all of our potential market driving force and leadership," said Andy Biggs, who has served as the U.S. representative for Arizona's 5th Congressional District since 2017. "Arizona and the Phoenix metro area are internationally considered one of the future tech growth areas (in the country). As long as we have the infrastructure to support that, waiting 15 years is way too long."

Biggs' remarks were made at the second installment of Arizona State University's Congressional Dialogue Series, hosted by the ASU Office of Government and Community Engagement. The Aug. 15 event took place at the Walton Center for Planetary Health on ASU's Tempe campus.

In addition to a keynote address, Biggs also participated in a fireside chat with Lara Ferry, vice president of research at ASU's Knowledge Enterprise. The two addressed topics that included how Biggs will shape his energy agenda to Congress; keeping the power grid strong; the role of small modular reactors (SMRs) and AI data centers; bringing these innovations to scale; and how federal agencies can better partner with universities like ASU.