Eastern US electricity prices surge 76% from AI data centers
Business
Electricity prices in the eastern US just jumped 76% over the past year, and it's mostly because of soaring energy use from AI data centers.
The average price per megawatt-hour climbed from $78 to $137, and the Monitoring Analytics report says we'll be stuck with these high costs until at least 2028 since the grid can't keep up.
Americans oppose new nearby data centers
People aren't thrilled about this change: 71% of Americans now say they don't want new data centers built nearby.
Rising power bills and stretched local resources are big reasons for the pushback, as these massive data hubs reshape how much energy whole regions need.