According to a new survey by solar provider Sunrun, 80% of U.S. consumers expect that data centers supporting artificial intelligence could drive up their electricity bills. This concern isn’t unfounded. Data centers now consume around 4% of the electricity generated in the United States, double the share in 2018, and could rise to 12% by 2028, according to the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory.
While the expansion of renewable energy helps meet growing demand, political setbacks and the slow build-out of natural gas threaten this balance. Rising energy prices could therefore further fuel public frustration toward the data-hungry tech industry.