Data Centers Blamed For Soaring U.S. Electricity Costs

Regular households and small businesses throughout the U.S face rising electric bill costs given the extensive energy demands of Big Tech data centers.

The energy demands of big tech companies such as Microsoft, Google, Amazon, and Meta’s data centers, is reported by AP News to surpass the total electricity consumption of entire cities like Pittsburgh or Cleveland

Several states are investigating how data centers affect electricity bills, while others are trying to make data centers pay a bigger share of costs for new power plants and transmission lines. “There’s a massive outcry,” said Charlotte Shuff of the Oregon Citizens’ Utility Board, as reported by AP.

In Georgia, residents like Beverly Morris blame nearby Meta data centers for water shortages, citing millions of gallons used for cooling. Meta denies harming groundwater, but locals remain skeptical.

Critics say the current system spreads billions in infrastructure costs across all customers, even though only a few of the world’s wealthiest companies benefit. “A lot of this infrastructure […] is being built just for a few customers,” said Ari Peskoe of Harvard University, as reported by AP.

AI data centers consume massive electricity, sometimes over 20% of a country’s usage, yet companies rarely disclose exact figures.

Additionally, research shows that AI-generated messages produce significant environmental impacts. The yearly energy consumption of one weekly email generated by AI equals the power usage of nine homes during one hour. Experts warn that individual habits add up to stress data centers which currently use 2% of global electricity and will experience significant growth because of increasing AI adoption.

AP notes that Wood Mackenzie researchers found that data center ‘special rates’ in 16 states fail to cover the expenses of building new power plants, forcing regular customers to absorb the extra costs. Monitoring Analytics, a mid-Atlantic organization, reported that data center demand accounted for 70% of last year’s $9.3 billion electricity cost increase.

AP reports that Oregon has ordered regulators to set higher data center rates, while New Jersey is investigating potential unreasonable rate increases” for ratepayers. Pennsylvania is drafting a standard rate framework to determine appropriate payment plans for technology companies.

“We’re talking about real transmission upgrades, potentially hundreds of millions of dollars,” said commission chairman Stephen DeFrank, as reported by the AP. “And that’s what you don’t want the ratepayer to get stuck paying for,” he added.