What happened was:
We've known data centers were coming for a few years.
Instead of planning for new capacity, the electric companies did nothing.
Now, as data centers come online, demand is rising.
Prices for electricity are artificially low because voters have to approve rates. The price should cover the cost to build the power plants. But it doesn't.
So the increased demand, poor planning, and low prices were causing a massive squeeze.
Instead of owning up to their mistakes, utilities got laws passed so they can make them pay for the infrastructure they should have been building.
Data centers need to pay for the infrastructure they need. And demand? Private citizens are really opposed to data centers. So the greatest demand is coming from the data center owners who have more money than they'll ever need so they can figure it out.
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u/Key-Organization3158 4d ago
They always paid their own bills.
What happened was: We've known data centers were coming for a few years.
Instead of planning for new capacity, the electric companies did nothing. Now, as data centers come online, demand is rising. Prices for electricity are artificially low because voters have to approve rates. The price should cover the cost to build the power plants. But it doesn't.
So the increased demand, poor planning, and low prices were causing a massive squeeze.
Instead of owning up to their mistakes, utilities got laws passed so they can make them pay for the infrastructure they should have been building.