Data Centers Added $9.4 Billion in Costs on Biggest US Grid
A power substation near a data center in Ashburn, Virginia.
Photographer: Nathan Howard/BloombergThe rapid development of data centers connected to the largest US electric grid raised costs by $9.4 billion, an expense that consumers from Illinois to Washington, D.C., will see reflected in their utility bills starting this month.
Overall costs rose by 180%, with the growing energy needs of data centers being the primary cause of tight supply-and-demand conditions, as well as high prices, in the PJM Interconnection capacity market, which serves customers from Illinois to Washington D.C., according to a report Tuesday by Monitoring Analytics, the grid’s independent market monitor.