US EditionAs electric bills rise, evidence mounts that data centers share blame. States feel pressure to act
MAINE, AUG 10 – Maine officials say AI data centers have not yet raised electricity prices as other states face rising costs driven by data center demand, which accounted for 70% of recent price increases in the mid-Atlantic.
- In the previous year, a group of five governors, with Pennsylvania’s Josh Shapiro at the forefront, challenged the power price increases imposed by the PJM Interconnection grid operator.
- This action followed reports that 70% or $9.3 billion of last year's electricity cost increase stemmed from data center demand and rising power bills.
- States including Oregon, New Jersey, Indiana, and Pennsylvania have taken legislative or regulatory steps to develop new power rates and make data centers pay more for local transmission.
- In Oregon, electric bills have increased by 50% over the past four years, with the Oregon Citizens’ Utility Board highlighting that data center expenses are being passed on to all customers, while the number of utility disconnections is at an unprecedented high.
- These developments suggest policymakers are responding to data centers' growing electricity demands, but effective solutions to protect ratepayers and manage infrastructure costs remain uncertain.
97 Articles
97 Articles
Waterloo Cedar Falls Courier
Some states focusing on electricity costs
HARRISBURG, Pa. — Amid rising electric bills, states are under pressure to insulate regular household and business ratepayers from the costs of feeding Big Tech’s energy-hungry data centers.
Getting Crushed By Electric Bills? You Can Thank Big Tech’s Hunger For Energy
Amid rising electric bills, states are under pressure to insulate regular household and business ratepayers from the costs of feeding Big Tech’s energy-hungry data centers. It’s not clear that any state has a solution and the actual effect of data centers on electricity bills is difficult to pin down. Some critics question whether states have the spine to take a hard line against tech behemoths like Microsoft, Google, Amazon and Meta. But more t…
Big Tech’s next major political battle may already be brewing in your backyard
The next major political fight over Big Tech has been brewing for years in the backyards of northern Virginia. Now the debate over data centers is poised to go national. The push by companies like OpenAI and Google to win the artificial intelligence race has led to a proliferation of data centers — giant warehouses for computer systems — in communities across all 50 states. The rise of these server farms has sparked fierce battles from the Virgi…
Power grid issues goes national and states feel pressure to act
By MARC LEVY, The Associated Press HARRISBURG — Amid rising electric bills, states are under pressure to insulate regular household and business ratepayers from the costs of feeding Big Tech’s energy-hungry data centers. It’s not clear that any state has a solution and the actual effect of data centers on electricity bills is difficult to pin down. Some critics question whether states have the spine to take a hard line against tech behemoths lik…
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