The AI Boom's Hidden Cost: A Tale of Two Trends A recent working paper from the Electric Power Research Institute has challenged a widely held notion about data centers and their impact on electricity costs.
Contrary to popular opinion, data center operations actually caused retail electricity costs to decrease until at least 2024.
The research found that for every doubling of data center capacity, average retail electricity prices decreased by 3. 5%. This phenomenon is rooted in the way electricity markets function.