Jowi Morales Social Links Navigation Contributing Writer Jowi Morales is a tech enthusiast with years of experience working in the industry. He’s been writing with several tech publications since 2021, where he’s been interested in tech hardware and consumer electronics.
magbarn They should also be focused on how Ai is making tech unaffordable for Americans. Reply
bigdragon I'm in Maryland. My energy costs have shot up 37% this year thanks to big tech. They're trying to build a state-spanning power transmission line to move cheaper energy from Pennsylvania to Northern Virginia where all the data centers are. I'm already paying for the ridiculous energy consumption of data centers. I don't want to pay for the transmission lines too. Big tech should be required to supply their own energy. Want to cram more data centers into NoVA? Then the industry must pay for a new reactor at Calvert Cliffs or build a new power station on the Potomac River near Ashburn, VA. We're already giving these companies massive tax breaks just to put their data centers here on top of lower tax rates than many other western governments. They don't need even more advantages while screwing over the local residents! Reply
Sam Hobbs Here is a suggestion for an article. Something about what can be done. The following chat provides some relevant information. A good article would summarize what Google Gemini said and make it less technical and include other material also of course. https://gemini.google.com/share/be41268f92ef The following are some quotes from that. You are correct that I specifically excluded data centers in my previous answer The core of your proposal … is often referred to as cost-causation and preventing "cost-shifting." A single, large AI data center campus can demand 100 Megawatts (MW) to over 500 MW of continuous power. This suggests that, at a minimum, the cost a large consumer must "additionally" pay to neutralize cost-shifting is approximately $733,000 per Megawatt of demand capacity just in internalized capacity costs, plus the initial tens of millions in up-front infrastructure payments. Reply
hotaru251 Easy (wont happen though) fix to this is to require companies that use over x amount of energy to be required to put aside funds to build out the grid (to make up for the amount they are planning to use) Even in event the reason they used the energy falls off that funding still gets used to build up grid. This keeps prices stagnant while its in high demand but also lowers cost when the craze ends as theres an abundance of energy. The fact corpo can use so much and harm the normal people just existing should actually be illegal. Reply
thestryker hotaru251 said: Easy (wont happen though) fix to this is to require companies that use over x amount of energy to be required to put aside funds to build out the grid (to make up for the amount they are planning to use) I agree it won't happen, but I think it would be better to target the energy companies with something like this. Don't allow them to raise residential rates for service expansion when adding datacenter capacity. Energy rates tend to be rather regulated in terms of how costs can be added so I think preventing them from passing the buck would force both them and their heavy users to figure it out. Reply
HideOut Admin said: Three Democratic Senators are investigating the impact of the massive AI data center build out on the electricity bill of the average American. Elizabeth Warren, other U.S. senators concerned about big tech pushing up electricity costs — demands explanation from Amazon, Google, Meta as AI d… : Read more In a related story, many senators have bought lots of shares of duke energy… Reply
Key considerations
- Investor positioning can change fast
- Volatility remains possible near catalysts
- Macro rates and liquidity can dominate flows
Reference reading
- https://www.tomshardware.com/tech-industry/artificial-intelligence/SPONSORED_LINK_URL
- https://www.tomshardware.com/tech-industry/artificial-intelligence/elizabeth-warren-other-u-s-senators-concerned-about-big-tech-pushing-up-electricity-costs-demands-explanation-from-amazon-google-meta-as-ai-data-centers-drive-up-residential-energy-bills#main
- https://www.tomshardware.com
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- Intel details progress on fabbing 2D transistors a few atoms thick in standard high volume fab production environment — chipmaker outlines 300-mm fab compatible
- Bernie Sanders calls for halt on AI data center construction — wants to ensure that the technology benefits ‘all of us, not just the 1%’
Informational only. No financial advice. Do your own research.