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Yay datacenters...driving up electricity costs

Climber

Climber

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Jul 13, 2004
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An electricity crunch is driving high bills in these states. It’s not getting better anytime soon
“I expect the supply scarcity will last a few more years and that most of the 65 million people in the region will be paying higher bills for that long,” said Rob Gramlich, CEO of consulting firm Grid Strategies LLC. “It is a shame that states and PJM failed to insulate consumers from volatile power markets.”

PJM acknowledged the drastic imbalance between electricity supply and demand. Already in the past two years, prices have jumped more than 1,000%.
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Seems pretty screwed up that data centers moving into your state will drive up your electricity costs by as much as 1,000%!

This is much like putting in a bunch of solar panels then having a tall building put in next door that blocks most of your sunlight.
 
Yep. Here are where the largest are located.

  • Northern Virginia is the top U.S. data center hub, with 300+ facilities, nearly 4,000 MW of power, low energy costs, and strong connectivity, hosting AWS, Equinix, and Digital Realty.
  • Phoenix ranks second with 100+ centers and 1,380 MW, offering low-cost power, high reliability, and providers like CyrusOne and phoenixNAP.
  • Silicon Valley and Dallas follow closely, with strong fiber networks, major cloud presence, and hyperscale growth—Dallas now exceeds 1,600 MW in capacity.
  • Chicago, Atlanta, and the New York Tri-State area serve key enterprise and financial markets with robust infrastructure, low-latency links, and top operators.
  • Miami and Los Angeles offer global interconnection, led by NAP of the Americas and One Wilshire, crucial for Latin America and Asia-Pacific traffic.
  • The largest U.S. data center is Switch’s TAHOE RENO 1 in Nevada, while major operators include Equinix, CoreSite, and Digital Realty.
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I’ll just leave this here:
Maryland — ~18–21 ¢/kWh (e.g., averages cited around 18–18.6 ¢ in some reports, up to 21 ¢ in others reflecting recent increases).
- New Jersey — ~21 ¢/kWh (noted as one of the highest, with a significant 21% year-over-year increase reported through mid-2025).
- Pennsylvania — ~18–19 ¢/kWh (generally lower than NJ and MD due to in-state generation).

And this:
As of December 2025, the average residential electricity price in California is approximately 32 cents per kWh, significantly higher than the national average of around 18 cents per kWh.

What’s Californias cause to high electricity?

California's rates are driven by factors like heavy investment in renewables, wildfire mitigation costs, infrastructure upgrades, and time-of-use (TOU) structures that charge more during peak hours (often exceeding 50 cents per kWh in evenings).

I’ll take those other states rates please.
 
StateResidential electricity rates September 2025Residential electricity rates September 2024Annual percentage (%) changeNational rank
Alabama16.43 ¢/kWh15.45 ¢/kWh6.327
Alaska27.16 ¢/kWh25.84 ¢/kWh5.142
Arizona15.27 ¢/kWh14.91 ¢/kWh2.419
Arkansas13.79 ¢/kWh12.83 ¢/kWh7.57
California32.04 ¢/kWh31.83 ¢/kWh0.749
Colorado16.7 ¢/kWh15.57 ¢/kWh7.330
Connecticut30.48 ¢/kWh33.05 ¢/kWh-7.848
Delaware18.12 ¢/kWh16.8 ¢/kWh7.934
Florida15.76 ¢/kWh14.01 ¢/kWh12.522
Georgia15.3 ¢/kWh13.63 ¢/kWh12.320
Hawaii39.54 ¢/kWh40.88 ¢/kWh-3.350
Idaho12.5 ¢/kWh12.36 ¢/kWh1.13
Illinois19.05 ¢/kWh15.8 ¢/kWh20.636
Indiana17.33 ¢/kWh14.82 ¢/kWh16.932
Iowa14.79 ¢/kWh14.05 ¢/kWh5.314
Kansas15.2 ¢/kWh14.69 ¢/kWh3.518
Kentucky13.56 ¢/kWh12.41 ¢/kWh9.35
Louisiana12.36 ¢/kWh12.04 ¢/kWh2.72
Maine27.98 ¢/kWh26.26 ¢/kWh6.545
Maryland21.05 ¢/kWh18.36 ¢/kWh14.738
Massachusetts30.41 ¢/kWh29.26 ¢/kWh3.947
Michigan21.2 ¢/kWh20.12 ¢/kWh5.439
Minnesota17.1 ¢/kWh16.45 ¢/kWh4.031
Mississippi13.97 ¢/kWh13.15 ¢/kWh6.210
Missouri15.84 ¢/kWh14.62 ¢/kWh8.323
Montana14.64 ¢/kWh13.45 ¢/kWh8.812
Nebraska13.85 ¢/kWh12.91 ¢/kWh7.39
Nevada11.95 ¢/kWh14.03 ¢/kWh-14.81
New Hampshire27.82 ¢/kWh24.93 ¢/kWh11.644
New Jersey23.39 ¢/kWh19.32 ¢/kWh21.140
New Mexico16.52 ¢/kWh15.04 ¢/kWh9.828
New York27.23 ¢/kWh25.05 ¢/kWh8.743
North Carolina15.12 ¢/kWh14.87 ¢/kWh1.717
North Dakota13.66 ¢/kWh12.85 ¢/kWh6.36
Ohio17.61 ¢/kWh15.75 ¢/kWh11.833
Oklahoma14.79 ¢/kWh13.81 ¢/kWh7.115
Oregon15.96 ¢/kWh15.29 ¢/kWh4.425
Pennsylvania20.46 ¢/kWh17.78 ¢/kWh15.137
Rhode Island28.3 ¢/kWh28.71 ¢/kWh-1.446
South Carolina15.34 ¢/kWh14.79 ¢/kWh3.721
South Dakota14.76 ¢/kWh13.84 ¢/kWh6.613
Tennessee13.29 ¢/kWh12.42 ¢/kWh7.04
Texas15.84 ¢/kWh15.06 ¢/kWh5.224
Utah14.12 ¢/kWh13.6 ¢/kWh3.811
Vermont23.92 ¢/kWh22.46 ¢/kWh6.541
Virginia16.62 ¢/kWh15.24 ¢/kWh9.129
Washington13.79 ¢/kWh12.39 ¢/kWh11.38
West Virginia16.14 ¢/kWh15.84 ¢/kWh1.926
Wisconsin18.73 ¢/kWh17.73 ¢/kWh5.635
Wyoming15 ¢/kWh13.91 ¢/kWh7.816
United States18.07 ¢/kWh16.82 ¢/kWh7.4
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Yep California is the second most expensive next to Hawaii. I’ll take any of those other states rates. We have solar and still have a $2k true up every year. California is insane.
 
Did you look at the percentage increase?
That's the important number, at this time, those are only going to get worse with the addition of data centers.
 
panthera said:
Yep California is the second most expensive next to Hawaii. I’ll take any of those other states rates. We have solar and still have a $2k true up every year. California is insane.
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Our True Up has never exceeded $60 as it seems our provider nailed the proper size for our solar array, (20 x 400watt panels).
 
I would be willing to revisit this in two year and bet you California will still lead those states in rates. I’m only concerned with California because that’s where we live.
Maybe power is too cheap in those states.

As far as panels, we have 24. Pg&e pays us 3 cents per kWh for our excess. Then turns around and charges us up to 55 cents per kWh. Not a good deal if you ask us.
 
panthera said:
I would be willing to revisit this in two year and bet you California will still lead those states in rates. I’m only concerned with California because that’s where we live.
Maybe power is too cheap in those states.

As far as panels, we have 24. Pg&e pays us 3 cents per kWh for our excess. Then turns around and charges us up to 55 cents per kWh. Not a good deal if you ask us.
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Oh, you are under NEM 3; we are under NEM 2.
 
Agree that CA solar contracts with PG&E has become fucked up, and that shouldn't have happened.
 
And in your latest PG&E billing invoice they have submitted another rate increase to the CPUC for recovery of costs associated with the
2019 Kincade Fire and the 2021Dixie Fire!!!
 
  • Angry
Reactions: GAJ
FLH03RIDER said:
And in your latest PG&E billing invoice they have submitted another rate increase to the CPUC for recovery of costs associated with the
2019 Kincade Fire and the 2021Dixie Fire!!!
Click to expand...
I don't believe PGE has ever faced any pushback from Sacramento.

Hence the high prices.
 
Unfortunately, we are getting into PF territory. I'd prefer that this thread doesn't get removed from the KS.
 
Last I heard, datacenters noticeably affect the price of electricity, water, and now nearly all silicon chips.

We are kinda just paying for services that we use - AWS, AI, Google, etc. They felt free for a while. If we didn’t use the services, we wouldn’t need datacenters, and prices wouldn’t go up.

This AI boom (hopefully a bubble) is making these changes faster and more noticeable. And unfortunately, it may be removing jobs - a huge double whammy. Fun times.
 
I personally think that AI is here to stay and will impact every aspect of our lives going forward, most of it not in the good way.
 
GAJ said:
I don't believe PGE has ever faced any pushback from Sacramento.

Hence the high prices.
Click to expand...
PG&E’a top investors are Vanguard, Black Rock and State Street whose shareholders demand nice returns.
PG&E shrugs their shoulders.
 
On the positive side, CA has a customer base that could more easily absorb sizeable changes in demand than smaller states. In the negative side, it will still raise all of our rates, not just in the region.

Another negative is that when the grid gets near capacity, does anybody believe that the data centers will get their power cut before the residents?
 
  • Haha
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