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.
If my sister that lives in the middle of nowhere wants to upgrade her service they want to charge her $10k for running a new line. No reason they can’t charge the data center for the upgrades the same way.
I’d like to believe that, but I think you and I both know they will find millions of reasons, in their personal bank accounts, helping to explain to them why they can’t charge Big Tech the same costs for electricity.