We’ve heard a lot about the power-hungry nature of AI data centers, with all of your ChatGPT inputs — or whatever AI tools you use — requiring a huge amount of energy to fulfill.
And now some folks are feeling the effects of it in their pocket, too, even though they may not even be using AI.
With all of the extra computer processing power required to keep AI services ticking along, millions of people living close to some of these data centers are starting to see their monthly electric bills go up by a significant amount, the Washington Post reported.
“In Trenton, New Jersey, the bill for a typical home rose $26,” the Post said by way of example. “In Philadelphia, it increased about $17. In Pittsburgh, it went up $10. And in Columbus, Ohio, it spiked $27.”
The report attributed the rise to the boom in data centers, which besides AI also support cloud computing services.
Tech companies building the data centers include the likes of Meta, Google, Microsoft, and Amazon, with residential customers understandably unhappy about having to pay more for their electricity while these behemoths continue to rake in billions of dollars.
“We’re seeing every region of the country experience really significant data center load growth,” energy markets expert Abe Silverman told the Post, adding that the situation is “putting enormous upward pressure on prices, both for transmission and for generation.”
So, what can be done? Energy regulators across the country could, for example, follow Ohio’s example and force the tech giants to pay extra to fund grid modernization so that it’s better able to handle the extra power demanded by their data centers.
Meanwhile, the companies involved are promising to build more efficient data centers that need less power to function, which could go some way to stabilizing electric bills while also being kinder to the environment. Google, for example, is aiming to open more efficient data centers, all of which run entirely on carbon-free energy by 2030, thereby lowering costs while minimizing its reliance on fossil fuels.
What’s clear is that the rapid growth of AI infrastructure is now bringing to the fore the urgent need for sustainable practices and comprehensive policies to deal with the technology’s environmental and social impact. But with so many factors at play when it comes to electricity supply, it’s too early to say to what extent regular folks’ electric bills will be affected.