All over the world, data centers powering your favorite chatbots are guzzling electricity like
there’s no tomorrow — and in the U.S. Trump’s energy policy could supercharge the pain.
There was a time — not long ago — when you could blame your sky-high
summer electric bill on your kids blasting the AC or your partner’s unending
laundry habit. But if you live in the U.S., the real culprit might be your
favorite AI. That chatbot you use to plan vacations, brainstorm dinner ideas,
or write passive-aggressive emails? It lives in a data center that’s chugging
electricity like it’s free. Spoiler: it’s not.
Millions of Americans across the eastern U.S. are seeing their monthly electric bills spike, and many of them have no idea why. But there’s a culprit: data centers that power artificial intelligence.
The data centers consume huge amounts of electricity, and as a result, are… pic.twitter.com/lUHwTEzSdv
— The Washington Post (@washingtonpost) July 30, 2025
The rise of generative AI has sparked a silent but very real energy
crisis. According
to the Financial Times, AI-related power demand in the U.S. is set to triple
by 2030. This has a knock on environmental impact: One Google data center in The Dalles, Oregon, has made headlines by
consuming over
25% of the town’s total water. As serious as the concerns around AI and water use are, it’s the increasing power bills that are hitting the headlines.
13 States, One Big Problem: The AI Tax
In at least 13 U.S. states, residential electricity prices have jumped
thanks to—you guessed it—AI. Virginia, Georgia, and Texas are among the unlucky
states already feeling the pinch. Electricity firm PJM Interconnection stated
that the price of their wholesale electricity capacity jumped by 22% from 2024.
As a result, PJM’s
67 million users could end up seeing bills rise by 5%.
Nice graphic of what AI data centers are doing to electricity bills across the country. Using statewide data understates the full effect, however, as most hikes are localized. But please, let’s keep subsidizing AI projects!
Via @PeterWhoriskey gift link pic.twitter.com/7PUhCqJdkM
— Hal Singer (@HalSinger) July 28, 2025
Here’s why: AI data centers, which are required to run 24/7 and manage
mind-boggling amounts of computation, demand huge amounts of power. And that
demand is forcing utilities to build new infrastructure—new power lines, new
substations, and in some cases, new fossil fuel plants. Utilities don’t eat
that cost. They pass these costs along to customers.
In Georgia, for example, the local utility, Georgia Power, proposed a
17% rate hike just to keep up with energy demands. The
local government stepped in to freeze rates, ending three years of
increases. In Virginia, the electricity load from data centers is projected to
double in the next decade and rise
by up to 183% by 2040.
So when you notice that your bill is higher this month? Thank the Large
Language Model in the cloud .
Anyone who thinks this is going to slow down,
please raise your hand.
And, if you’re suddenly glad you don’t live in the States, well, AI-targeted data centers are being built everywhere. And while the U.S. is home to the largest numbers, Germany, the UK and China make up numbers 2-4, and those numbers are growing.
Big Tech’s Data Diet Is Not Sustainable
Big Tech companies are racing to dominate the AI arms race, but that
ambition comes with a monstrous energy bill. Nvidia GPUs don’t run on fairy
dust. Amazon Web Services, Microsoft Azure, and Google Cloud seem
to be constantly building new data centers. As Fox News points out, many AI
servers consume up
to 30 times more power than traditional data centers. And while some are
talking the green talk (solar panels, carbon offsets, etc.), the net energy
demand still spikes.
Electricity demand is booming in Louisiana—partly from AI data centers.
If the US Senate passes their bill, the state would be heading for an electricity shortage.
Utilities would have to turn away data center projects. And electricity bills would rise by ~10%. pic.twitter.com/kS0u07fDVo
— Michael Thomas (@curious_founder) June 30, 2025
And we’re only at the beginning. Reuters
has reported that data centers could use around 9% of total U.S.
electricity by 2030. This isn’t stopping.
Trump’s “One Big Beautiful Bill” — Big Tech’s Dream, Your Nightmare?
Then there’s the political twist.
Donald Trump’s much-hyped “One Big Beautiful Bill” is reportedly aimed
at streamlining energy permits — reducing costs for fossil fuel projects and
stripping environmental red tape. Sounds good if you’re ExxonMobil or Big Tech
— they need more power and they need it fast But it’s not great if you’re a
residential customer hoping for lower utility rates.
Why AI is causing summer electricity bills to soar https://t.co/KQ4MrjG7k1
— Fox News (@FoxNews) July 26, 2025
According to a report
by think-tank Energy Innovation, U.S. wholesale electricity prices will
increase by 25% over the next five years and by 74% in the next decade.
Overall, the bill could also undermine efforts to modernize the grid,
invest in renewables, or protect consumers from price shocks.
Welcome to the AI-Energy Complex
We’re entering a strange new era where every Google search, every
ChatGPT prompt, and every AI-powered “enhancement” has an energy cost — and
it’s showing up on electricity bills around the world.
To be clear: AI is a wonderful tool. However, our continuing reliance
on fossil fuels, the tech’s impact on the environment and the fact that data
centers are proliferating at an incredible rate, has to be cause for concern.
So the next time you ask your AI assistant for help planning a low-cost
vacation, remember — it might’ve already made your July more expensive than you
thought.
For more stories making waves in tech and finance, visit our dedicated archives.
All over the world, data centers powering your favorite chatbots are guzzling electricity like
there’s no tomorrow — and in the U.S. Trump’s energy policy could supercharge the pain.
There was a time — not long ago — when you could blame your sky-high
summer electric bill on your kids blasting the AC or your partner’s unending
laundry habit. But if you live in the U.S., the real culprit might be your
favorite AI. That chatbot you use to plan vacations, brainstorm dinner ideas,
or write passive-aggressive emails? It lives in a data center that’s chugging
electricity like it’s free. Spoiler: it’s not.
Millions of Americans across the eastern U.S. are seeing their monthly electric bills spike, and many of them have no idea why. But there’s a culprit: data centers that power artificial intelligence.
The data centers consume huge amounts of electricity, and as a result, are… pic.twitter.com/lUHwTEzSdv
— The Washington Post (@washingtonpost) July 30, 2025
The rise of generative AI has sparked a silent but very real energy
crisis. According
to the Financial Times, AI-related power demand in the U.S. is set to triple
by 2030. This has a knock on environmental impact: One Google data center in The Dalles, Oregon, has made headlines by
consuming over
25% of the town’s total water. As serious as the concerns around AI and water use are, it’s the increasing power bills that are hitting the headlines.
13 States, One Big Problem: The AI Tax
In at least 13 U.S. states, residential electricity prices have jumped
thanks to—you guessed it—AI. Virginia, Georgia, and Texas are among the unlucky
states already feeling the pinch. Electricity firm PJM Interconnection stated
that the price of their wholesale electricity capacity jumped by 22% from 2024.
As a result, PJM’s
67 million users could end up seeing bills rise by 5%.
Nice graphic of what AI data centers are doing to electricity bills across the country. Using statewide data understates the full effect, however, as most hikes are localized. But please, let’s keep subsidizing AI projects!
Via @PeterWhoriskey gift link pic.twitter.com/7PUhCqJdkM
— Hal Singer (@HalSinger) July 28, 2025
Here’s why: AI data centers, which are required to run 24/7 and manage
mind-boggling amounts of computation, demand huge amounts of power. And that
demand is forcing utilities to build new infrastructure—new power lines, new
substations, and in some cases, new fossil fuel plants. Utilities don’t eat
that cost. They pass these costs along to customers.
In Georgia, for example, the local utility, Georgia Power, proposed a
17% rate hike just to keep up with energy demands. The
local government stepped in to freeze rates, ending three years of
increases. In Virginia, the electricity load from data centers is projected to
double in the next decade and rise
by up to 183% by 2040.
So when you notice that your bill is higher this month? Thank the Large
Language Model in the cloud .
Anyone who thinks this is going to slow down,
please raise your hand.
And, if you’re suddenly glad you don’t live in the States, well, AI-targeted data centers are being built everywhere. And while the U.S. is home to the largest numbers, Germany, the UK and China make up numbers 2-4, and those numbers are growing.
Big Tech’s Data Diet Is Not Sustainable
Big Tech companies are racing to dominate the AI arms race, but that
ambition comes with a monstrous energy bill. Nvidia GPUs don’t run on fairy
dust. Amazon Web Services, Microsoft Azure, and Google Cloud seem
to be constantly building new data centers. As Fox News points out, many AI
servers consume up
to 30 times more power than traditional data centers. And while some are
talking the green talk (solar panels, carbon offsets, etc.), the net energy
demand still spikes.
Electricity demand is booming in Louisiana—partly from AI data centers.
If the US Senate passes their bill, the state would be heading for an electricity shortage.
Utilities would have to turn away data center projects. And electricity bills would rise by ~10%. pic.twitter.com/kS0u07fDVo
— Michael Thomas (@curious_founder) June 30, 2025
And we’re only at the beginning. Reuters
has reported that data centers could use around 9% of total U.S.
electricity by 2030. This isn’t stopping.
Trump’s “One Big Beautiful Bill” — Big Tech’s Dream, Your Nightmare?
Then there’s the political twist.
Donald Trump’s much-hyped “One Big Beautiful Bill” is reportedly aimed
at streamlining energy permits — reducing costs for fossil fuel projects and
stripping environmental red tape. Sounds good if you’re ExxonMobil or Big Tech
— they need more power and they need it fast But it’s not great if you’re a
residential customer hoping for lower utility rates.
Why AI is causing summer electricity bills to soar https://t.co/KQ4MrjG7k1
— Fox News (@FoxNews) July 26, 2025
According to a report
by think-tank Energy Innovation, U.S. wholesale electricity prices will
increase by 25% over the next five years and by 74% in the next decade.
Overall, the bill could also undermine efforts to modernize the grid,
invest in renewables, or protect consumers from price shocks.
Welcome to the AI-Energy Complex
We’re entering a strange new era where every Google search, every
ChatGPT prompt, and every AI-powered “enhancement” has an energy cost — and
it’s showing up on electricity bills around the world.
To be clear: AI is a wonderful tool. However, our continuing reliance
on fossil fuels, the tech’s impact on the environment and the fact that data
centers are proliferating at an incredible rate, has to be cause for concern.
So the next time you ask your AI assistant for help planning a low-cost
vacation, remember — it might’ve already made your July more expensive than you
thought.
For more stories making waves in tech and finance, visit our dedicated archives.
