AI data centers are driving up electricity bills. Energy-saving hacks might not help lower them. (www.businessinsider.com)

Rapid expansion of AI data centers is driving electricity bills higher across the U.S.: utilities in 41 states and D.C. have raised or planned rate increases largely to fund new capacity and grid upgrades to serve booming data-center demand. Data centers used about 4.4% of U.S. electricity in 2023 and industry and utility forecasts expect that to roughly triple by 2028, adding roughly 60 GW of load — enough to power six major cities. Utilities are pursuing multibillion-dollar generation and transmission projects (and regulators often allow those costs to be passed on to all customers), sparking fights like the Louisiana approval of Entergy’s $5 billion gas plants to serve a Meta campus and prompting consumer advocates to warn that average ratepayers will shoulder much of the burden. Household-level fixes help but won’t fully offset system-driven rate increases. Simple conservation reduces consumption but many bills include fixed charges and cost-recovery fees tied to grid investments, so a 10% cut in usage rarely yields a 10% bill drop. Startups such as Arbor (which helps consumers in 14 deregulated states shop for cheaper suppliers) and Exceleron (prepay and usage-tracking programs across ~75 utilities) offer tools that can trim bills or smooth payments, while long-term measures—heat pumps, rooftop solar—can reduce exposure to rising gas and electricity costs. Policymakers and regulators will play a decisive role in whether consumers bear most of the transition cost as AI-driven load grows.