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Surging data center demand fuels US power price hikes

Jul 22, 2025, 7:48am EDT
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A data center company is constructing a facility in Aurora, Colorado
RJ Sangosti/MediaNews Group/The Denver Post via Getty Images

Regulated US utilities requested a combined $29 billion in rate increases during the first half of 2025, double last year’s amount.

Data center demand is driving record US power price increases. The next major signal for how much AI is adding to household power bills will come later today, when the country’s largest grid network, PJM Interconnection — which also hosts the world’s largest concentration of data centers — releases the results of its annual power auction. Over the past decade, PJM has paid about $6.5 billion annually to power generators, costs that are ultimately borne by homes and businesses in its territory. That sum leaped to $14.7 billion last year, and is expected to reach up to $16 billion this year.

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