AI To Trigger High Energy Bills, Who Will Pay Them?

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Energy experts have said AI and Bitcoin mining take massive amounts of electricity to run their server installations for some time. There have been questions about whether current electricity capacity and an aging electricity grid could handle this new demand. The answer is uncertain. What is not is the cost of electricity to residential and legacy customers will rise quickly.

The Wall Street Journal pointed out, “The AI-driven, energy-hungry data-center boom was bound to bring up uncomfortable questions: Will it raise energy bills and, if so, who will shoulder the costs? America’s largest wholesale power market is starting to see the results.”

Energy Bills

One of the things clear from the analysis is that energy bills will begin to rise now, and the future will only worsen. Utilities can put more capacity online. This creates two problems. The first is that the process takes years. The other is that it is expensive, and many utilities are short on capital. Nuclear energy is not a solution in many cases.

The higher costs could also cost some politicians their jobs, as voters are angered by the new prices. This means that the argument will move from a financial supply and demand to a political football. Some states, like Texas, are already low on energy.

Slow Green

Another challenge is that many Americans do not want nuclear energy after the meltdown at Three Mile Island in 1979. Additionally, funding for solar and wind has been expensive, making these new energy sources less likely to be built.