Americans are dealing with a fresh challenge- rapid growth of artificial intelligence and the rising electricity costs due to data centres. As technology companies build more data centres to power AI tools, the demand for electricity is also shooting up, raising concerns about who will pay for the extra power infrastructure.
The US House of Representatives is expected to vote on bipartisan legislation on Wednesday that aims to protect households from higher electricity bills linked to data centre expansion, according to news agency Reuters. The vote comes as government officials nationwide are under pressure to take steps to prevent the soaring cost of data center power needs from being passed on to average households. The proposed 'Ratepayer Protection Act' would need state utility regulators to consider whether large electricity users, including data centres, should pay the additional costs of the infrastructure needed to serve them.
