Three Democratic US senators announced on Tuesday that they are investigating whether big tech companies are passing the soaring utility costs of “energy-guzzling” data centers on to ordinary Americans.

...they were alarmed by reports that these data centers caused residential electricity bills to “skyrocket”. Regions with significant data center activity have already endured price increases by as much as 267% over the past five years, the three lawmakers wrote. According to the Energy Information Administration, a federal agency, the average cost of a US family’s electricity bill had risen 7% year-over-year as of September.
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They also inquired about the tax deductions or other financial incentives these companies received from state and local governments, as well as payments they made to lobbyists and consultants to advocate for the construction of data centers. They requested a response no later than 12 January.
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A Cornell study published last month in Nature Sustainability found that data centers could annually consume as much water as 6 million-10 million Americans and emit as much carbon dioxide as 5m-10m cars.

The scrutiny arrives when 70% of US households have seen their electricity costs rise over the past year, with many blaming it on the energy-demands from AI, according to a recent survey. In some cases, local residents have been protesting incoming AI data centers over the environmental impact, potential pollution, and land seizure attempts.

This generally obscure topic [electricity costs] has become critical in New Jersey because electricity rates this summer climbed 22 percent from a year earlier — faster than all but one state: Maine.

Electricity prices are rising, not only in New Jersey but across PJM and throughout the rest of the United States, because demand is outpacing supply...

The cost for long-overdue improvements to power systems and upgrades needed to support energy-hungry data centers are also driving up household electric bills.

With the explosive growth of Big Tech’s data centers threatening to overload U.S. electricity grids, policymakers are taking a hard look at a tough-love solution: bumping the energy-hungry data centers off grids during power emergencies.
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Grid operators in Texas, the Great Plains states and the mid-Atlantic region have produced eye-popping projections showing that electricity demand in the coming years will spike, largely due to data centers.
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The proposals are cropping up at a time when electricity bills nationally are rising fast — twice the rate of inflation, according to federal data — and growing evidence suggests that the bills of some regular Americans are rising to subsidize the gargantuan energy needs of Big Tech.
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“Data center load has the potential to overwhelm the grid, and I think it is on its way to doing that,” said Joe Bowring, who heads Monitoring Analytics, the independent market watchdog in the mid-Atlantic grid.

70% of rising electricity cost from data centers
Tennessee in top 10 states with electricity rate increases

Our government representatives are not doing a good of representing/protecting citizens. Be more informed when it comes time to vote.

Why?

The AI explosion means millions are paying more for electricity.

The data centers required for Big Tech are driving up electricity demand — and prices.

Are data centers the reason for Tennessee be in the top 10 states with electricity rate increases? The article doesn't say, but we should get answers. The residents of Tennessee should not have to finance these data centers.

TVA is increasing rates for electricity for a second time in 2024. First, there was "a 4.5% increase approved for the 2024 fiscal year that was approved in August 2023."

Now, "TVA shared that the 5.25% base rate increase will be taking effect on October 1, 2024."

"Maryville city staff are proposing rate adjustments to three of the city’s utilities, with potential changes coming around January." Haven't heard what Alcoa and Knoxville Utilities Board are doing.

On top of the property tax increase last year, these rate increases make it harder and harder to maintain a home.

Then, "The director of Tennessee’s statewide housing finance agency [Tennessee Housing Development Agency Executive Director Ralph Perrey] offered Blount County residents a solution to high prices (during a presentation at the Blount Partnership ): build more homes.

That's all well and good if the infrastructure holds up. I'm not sure it is. Schools and roads are suffering for sure. Then, we have to wonder how the local municipalities are doing. Are they still able to provide sufficient police and fire services?

U.S. Rep. Tim Burchett claims there was a power blackout at his property. He has a barn with heaters to keep the pipes from freezing. He said the heaters did not come back on after the blackout.

Now, U.S. Rep. Tim Burchett wants to start using more coal power.

"Burchett said he believes that putting more attention on coal energy may be part of a solution."

“With coal, we can get it out of the ground in this area and it provides jobs and also vital heating and electricity during a crucial time,” he added."

TVA responds:

"On Dec. 23, TVA claims they supplied more power than at any other time in its nearly 90-year history. However, they added that this was the highest winter power peak in TVA history."

TVAs initial request to conserve power.

I believe this weather/power event could have been handled better. I didn't even hear about the possibility of blackouts until I spoke with someone in Nashville who knew someone in West Tennessee who thinks they went under a blackout. Although, they live in the boonies with little services anyway. I think those that encountered a blackout could have been warned ahead of time in order to prepare. It is not always good to have certain equipment shutdown without warning.

Why didn't they use the government public alert system to warn people? They use it enough for weather events and missing people as well as testing.

Having said that, I don't think coal is the answer I would fall back on. I'm sure an organization/company as big as TVA with the many engineers can come up with a solution for the future.

Maybe U.S. Rep. Tim Burchett could try to help those people that were negatively affected from any blackouts instead of preaching for coal.

Looks like good stuff

Portland has replaced a section of its existing water supply network with Lucid Energy pipes containing four forty-two inch turbines. As water flows through the pipes, the turbines spin and power attached generators, which then feed energy back into the city’s electrical grid.