Democratic lawmakers are investigating data centers' impact on electricity costs

"Sens. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), and Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) fired off a letter on Tuesday to Google, Microsoft, Amazon, Meta, and several major data center developers to investigate the impact they're having on Americans' utility bills. The move comes as rising electricity rates became an increasingly hot-button issue in the US, which has far more data centers than any other country in the world and has seen waves of local opposition to these facilities as a result. Power demand is suddenly increasing after more than a decade without much change, due in large part to new data centers that underpin the generative AI boom. Utilities wind up shifting costs to consumers as they build out new power plants and transmission lines to meet data center demand, the lawmakers contend."

""Through these utility price increases, American families bankroll the electricity costs of trillion-dollar tech companies," the letter says. "Data centers' energy use should not come at the expense of energy availability and affordability for American families." Household electricity bills have risen 13 percent nationally this year. There are complex factors behind that problem. Much of the costs stem from the need to upgrade aging infrastructure including power lines and transformers, a problem made worse by increasingly extreme weather. Then there's the growing electricity demand from data centers, domestic manufacturing, and the electrification of more building stock and transportation."

Senators Elizabeth Warren, Chris Van Hollen, and Richard Blumenthal asked Google, Microsoft, Amazon, Meta, and major data center developers to investigate how data centers affect Americans' utility bills. The United States has far more data centers than any other country and has faced local opposition to new facilities. Power demand is rising after more than a decade of little change, driven largely by new data centers supporting the generative AI boom. Utilities shift costs to consumers while building new power plants and transmission lines to meet data center demand. Household electricity bills rose 13 percent nationally this year due to infrastructure upgrades, extreme weather, and growing demand from data centers, manufacturing, and electrification.

Read at The Verge