As some of us continue to calcify our brains asking ChatGPT to answer an email or blow up our lives for an AI side chick, others are paying hand over fist for it via power bills. Wholesale electricity costs have increased as much as 267 percent since 2020 in areas near data centers, and consumers are emptying their pockets for the power companies.
A very granular Bloomberg analysis of wholesale electricity prices across the country paints a picture of doubled wholesale prices and soaring consumer costs over the past five years. It’s complex, but one thing is for certain: those within 50 miles of data centers are bearing the brunt of it.
The issue is that about two thirds of the country’s power consumption runs on either a state or regional grid. This means the costs necessary for network expansion and maintenance is trickling down to residents and businesses’ electricity bills.
For example, according to Bloomberg‘s analysis of data provided by energy analytics firms Grid Status and DC Byte, Baltimore has seen an increase of 125 percent on its wholesale electricity price, and residents have experienced an average monthly electric bill increase of over $17 in the last year, with expectations of another jump of $4 in 2026. In Texas, data centers are unequivocally the largest new source of power consumption.
Bloomberg projects that the data center power demand will double by 2035. That would be equivalent to just shy of 10 percent of the total electricity demand in the country, and would be the biggest increase since air conditioning became popular in the 1960s, both of which carry significant climate change implications.
It’s also just unfair. Tech companies and their backers are pouring hundreds of billions of dollars into AI infrastructure right now, which may or may not ultimately pay off — but offloading costs onto regular people who are already struggling with sky-high inflation isn’t part of any reasonable deal.
More on AI data centers: AI Datacenters Are Raising Nearby Residents’ Electric Bills