As electric bills rise, evidence mounts that data centers share blame. States feel pressure to act

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — 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 than a dozen states have begun taking steps as data centers drive a rapid build-out of power plants and transmission lines.

That has meant pressuring the nation’s biggest power grid operator to clamp down on price increases, studying the effect of data centers on electricity bills or pushing data center owners to pay a larger share of local transmission costs.

Rising power bills are “something legislators have been hearing a lot about. It’s something we’ve been hearing a lot about. More people are speaking out at the public utility commission in the past year than I’ve ever seen before,” said Charlotte Shuff of the Oregon Citizens’ Utility Board, a consumer advocacy group. “There’s a massive outcry.”

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One Comment

Historian August 17, 2025 at 18:22

The issue is not just generating capacity, although that is severely lacking nationwide, but generating LOCATION. Currently, Loudoun county has hosted hundreds of data centers, with attendant tax revenues and enhancement to the county’s economic activity. The County refuses, however, to allow construction of new power plants. Both Virginia and Maryland have required closure of legacy fossil fueled plants, resulting in residential rates in portions of the MidAtlantic going up by 1000% in less than 4 years while data centers are reported given sweetheart deals on power rates. And the permitting of new data centers by Loudoun County proceeds unabated, even though there is no plan to augment local generation.

Loudoun’s answer is to have coal power generated hundreds of miles away from Loudoun County, and transmitted by new power lines across West Virginia. The costs of this transmission line (MARL) are presently proposed to be foisted on West Virginia ratepayers, even though there is no plan for one watt of this power to be delivered to West Virginians. Costs are not trivial- present estimates are $440 million in 2024 dollars, and likely will be half again or 2x that, if this project should be completed. Paid for by long suffering hard working West Virginians.

As one might imagine, West Virginians have no interest in being treated worse than the British treated their American colonies, paying for power that West Virginia neither needs nor wants. It will be interesting to see what happens.

With regard to all who seek the Light, Historian