[HN Gopher] Big Tech's A.I. Data Centers Are Driving Up Electric...
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       Big Tech's A.I. Data Centers Are Driving Up Electricity Bills for
       Everyone
        
       Author : moneycantbuy
       Score  : 29 points
       Date   : 2025-08-14 20:54 UTC (2 hours ago)
        
 (HTM) web link (www.nytimes.com)
 (TXT) w3m dump (www.nytimes.com)
        
       | grafmax wrote:
       | Not just bills. These data centers, a major driver of new energy
       | use, are contributing to climate change. Sadly it seems to be
       | another way for large companies to offload externalities onto the
       | public.
        
         | kolinko wrote:
         | Are they? IIRC MS & Google were running on carbon neutral
         | sources.
        
           | rambojohnson wrote:
           | Carbon neutrality doesn't refill a drained reservoir used to
           | cool off these machines. Running your servers on wind power
           | doesn't make the millions of gallons they're dumping into
           | cooling systems any less gone.
        
         | rambojohnson wrote:
         | To say nothing of the exorbitant amount of water used to cool
         | these machines, we're on track to face a water shortage crisis
         | long before any other climate change impact.
        
           | arghwhat wrote:
           | Water availability is a regional climate change impact, which
           | does not apply everywhere.
           | 
           | It's very stupid to evaporate potable water on purpose in dry
           | regions, but note that many numbers in this area are highly
           | sensationalized by taking e.g. the _maximum design capacity_
           | of the cooling system instead of the actual load, and that
           | there are several _other_ cooling solutions. Most proper
           | facts die tragic deaths before they make it to mainstream
           | news media. : /
        
       | lelandbatey wrote:
       | https://archive.is/YOo1H
        
       | brotchie wrote:
       | But the vast majority of my $500+ a month PG&E bill is for
       | transmission, not generation.
        
         | prasadjoglekar wrote:
         | And according TFA, those poles and wires for transmission are a
         | large part of the increase in costs that are forecasted.
         | 
         | Ideally, the folks who request the new plants and transmission
         | lines pay for them, but it appears tech cos are attempting to
         | pass the transmission cost burden onto residential consumers.
        
         | taeric wrote:
         | 500 a month sounds steep. I'm assuming you live somewhere that
         | requires AC every day?
         | 
         | The article referred to driving prices up from 2020 due to
         | making the infrastructure stronger by as much as 30%. Which,
         | yeah, about 150ish of your bill.
         | 
         | It is less clear on how much it will need to go up because of
         | increased demand? The prediction is 8%. Which, again, not
         | nothing. But it is telling that there is more increase from
         | infrastructure than there is generation? I don't know that that
         | will change?
        
       | buckle8017 wrote:
       | this is nonsense and the author even admits it
       | 
       | > In the coming years, artificial intelligence could turbocharge
       | those increases
       | 
       | the cost of residential power is going up because of the shift
       | away from natural gas towards solar
       | 
       | failing to admit this or worse lying about it is not going to
       | actually help long term
        
         | kolinko wrote:
         | what? solar is cheaper than natural gas.
        
           | mensetmanusman wrote:
           | Solar+battery is the proper comparison.
        
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       (page generated 2025-08-14 23:01 UTC)