To Build a Reliable and Affordable Grid, We Need Better Data From Data Centers

The huge growth in data centers is straining electric grids, and part of the problem is that almost no one has good data on how many data centers exist, where they're being built, or how much power they use. Companies often keep this information secret, and there's no central database tracking projects. That makes it hard for utilities and grid planners to know how much new power generation to build, which can lead to either overbuilding (raising costs and pollution) or underbuilding (risking blackouts). Either way, the costs of getting it wrong tend to land on regular electricity customers through their bills.

Some states are starting to push back. Texas paused approval of new data centers while it audits pending projects, though it let a large Meta project move forward. Minnesota and Wisconsin have scaled back tax breaks they'd offered data center developers, and New York has imposed the first state moratorium, blocking new data centers of 50 megawatts or larger through July 2027 while it studies the impacts. At the national level, an industry group called NERC is drafting new rules requiring data centers to register and report information needed for grid planning, and the Energy Information Administration is separately working to collect data center energy-use figures.

None of this requires anything from you directly, but it matters for your electric bill. Utilities in many states are making multi-decade investment decisions based on incomplete demand forecasts, and advocates argue that poor visibility into data center growth could translate into higher rates for households as utilities either overbuild fossil-fuel plants or scramble to catch up. Checking what your own state is doing on data center oversight and utility planning may be worth watching as this plays out.