Big Tech's data center push has sent electricity bills higher. Lawmakers want to slow them down.

Core Viewpoint - Big Tech's data center expansion is encountering increasing legislative resistance aimed at mitigating the impact of their power consumption on consumer electric bills [1][2]. Group 1: Legislative Actions - Bipartisan legislation has been introduced by Senators Josh Hawley and Richard Blumenthal to prevent data center power usage from affecting consumers' electric bills [1]. - New York has proposed a bill to pause data center construction, potentially excluding the state from future data center developments [2]. - Lawmakers across the country are attempting to regulate an industry that has rapidly expanded and is straining the power grid [2]. Group 2: Industry Impact and Demand - The four major tech companies—Microsoft, Alphabet, Amazon, and Meta—are projected to invest over $650 billion in artificial intelligence this year, significantly increasing data center construction and power demand [4]. - Power demand from U.S. data centers is estimated to have doubled from 2018 to 2024 and could triple by 2028 [5]. - Capacity prices for electricity in the PJM Interconnection region have surged from $28.92 per megawatt-day for the 2024-2025 period to $329.17 for the 2026-2027 period [5]. Group 3: Environmental Concerns - Major data centers consume large amounts of water for cooling, with forecasts indicating they will use over 150 billion gallons between 2025 and 2023, equivalent to the annual water usage of 4.6 million U.S. households [6]. - AI developers have committed to reducing the environmental impact on local communities [6]. Group 4: Corporate Responses - Microsoft has pledged to cover its data center energy costs fully and to replenish more water than its U.S. data centers consume [7]. - Amazon reported a 40% reduction in water use per unit of computing since 2021 and claims that its infrastructure will not increase electricity rates [7].