Who is really footing the AI energy bill? Inside the debate about data center electricity costs

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The companies racing to build the massive infrastructure needed for the artificial intelligence boom are facing growing backlash over electricity costs, as households and policymakers question whether data centers are driving up power bills.

However, a recent report from SemiAnalysis, a semiconductor research firm, argued that the expansion of data centers is only part of the story, and claimed that market design and policy decisions play a greater role in these energy price increases than AI infrastructure growth alone.

From rural Virginia to the Arizona desert, communities that once welcomed tech investment are now pushing back against data centers amid growing concerns that these facilities — built by so-called AI hyperscalers — are straining local power grids, raising costs for everyone else.

Since 2020, residential electricity prices in the U.S. have risen by more than 36%, from 12.76 cents per kilowatt-hour to 17.44 cents per kilowatt-hour in February 2026, and are expected to hit 19.01 cents per kilowatt-hour by September 2027, according to the latest forecast by the U.S. Energy Information Administration.