Study: AI & Data Centers to Raise Electric Bills by Over 50%

HOUSTON, TX, UNITED STATES, February 19, 2025 /EINPresswire.com/ -- Demand for AI, crypto, and data centers is growing quickly. Dallas, the rising star for AI, is now home to facilities offering as much 1.5 gigawatts for data centers run by Amazon AWS, Google Cloud, Meta, Microsoft, Equinix, and others. More are coming to Texas and will likely affect the cost of average home electricity bills. On a national level, AI, crypto, and data centers alone could raise electric demand by more than 120 gigawatts. But, because electric utilities will need to build additional transmission and delivery capacity onto their existing grids to power these sites. Unfortunately, those costs are usually passed down to the consumer on their monthly bill.

Because the scale is so huge, consumers are having a hard time understanding how these facilities may affect their home's future electric bills. A new study by PowerChoiceTexas.com examined the trend of residential Texas electricity rates to understand what consumer bills may look like five years from now in 2030. They have also taken their data and plugged it into an interactive map.

Consumers for all 50 states can use this map to compare average monthly bill costs for 2024 to what they could pay in 2030.

How Much Could Home Electric Prices Rise?

The energy analysts used EIA data to assess kWh rate and consumption changes during the 2020 to 2024 period. They then used this value to estimate future rates and bills for 2025 through 2030. Electricity supply costs tend to vary between states. This is especially true for deregulated states like Texas where customers have the power to choose their electricity provider. Utility transmission and delivery costs also vary from state to state. For these reasons, analysts saw the price per kWh in some states rise more sharply than others.

· California started with the highest annual percentage increase of 12.60%
· Alaska started with the lowest annual increase of 2.80%
· The average rise in price per kWh for the whole U.S. was 6.72%.

How Much Your 2030 Electric Bill May Cost

· Residential kWh usage falls by an average of 4.80% to 751.77 kWh per month.
· Residential price per kWh increases over 47% from 2024 prices.
· Average monthly electricity bills rise above 2024 levels by nearly 55%.
· Some states will see monthly bills rise above 2024 levels by more than 75%.

Hawaii, California, and Connecticut had the highest price per kWh and the highest bills. Home electric bills for 2030 in these states rose by 60% to 115%. The two highest, Hawaii and California may see average home electric bills go over $300 per month.

Virginia and Texas, which both have the highest number of AI, cryptocurrency, and data center sites (over 800), saw their cost per bill rise by 50% to about $200.00

Nevada, Arizona, and Montana saw the lowest bill increases over the next five years, rising less than 18%. Nevada saw the least likely bill increase of 8.79% with an average monthly bill hitting about $100.

Will Energy Efficiency Reduce AI, Crypto, and Data Center Demand?

Our energy analysts predict that while energy efficiency enhancements may reduce what these facilities consume and cut their costs, it could also make them cheaper to build and run. Given the popularity of AI, this would likely encourage developers to build even more; thereby eliminating any energy efficiency savings.

Regions Likely to Have the Highest Electric Rates in 2030
1. Pacific Contiguous: 48.32 cents per kWh. Monthly bills could be $277.50.
2. New England: 41.72 cents per kWh. Average bills could hit $230.45.
3. Middle Atlantic: 32.37 cents per kWh. Bills could average $187.44.

PowerChoiceTexas.org is operated by Electricity Ratings, LLC.
Electricity Ratings, LLC operates a network of energy shopping websites serving 17 states and 56 utilities, providing our energy comparison and ratings service to over 80 million customers. We provide our customers with the power to choose the best providers through our consumer reviews platform and provide a reliable, unbiased, source of valuable consumer insight, advice, in-depth energy company service evaluations, and personalized recommendations. Our mission is to help consumers harness the power of information to find, compare, and buy electricity and energy services from the best providers.

James Palmer
PowerChoiceTexas.org
email us here