Data centers have pushed electricity bills up by $23 billion

The explosive growth of AI infrastructure has quietly transferred $23 billion in additional electricity costs onto ordinary consumers and businesses, as data centers gobble up grid capacity and force utilities to invest in new supply. The burden falls disproportionately on households near major data center clusters, who bear higher rates without sharing in the economic upside. The figure comes as a BIS paper simultaneously flags the sector's growing dependence on debt financing to sustain the AI build-out.