Politics with Michelle Grattan: Andrew Charlton’s warning on data centres’ impact on power bills

Cabinet Secretary and Assistant Minister for Science, Technology and the Digital Economy, Andrew Charlton.

Jeremy Ng/AAP

Publié: 27 août 2026, 07:18 CEST

Household and business power prices could rise if artificial intelligence (AI) data centres end up being powered by coal or gas generation, a federal assistant minister has said.

Cabinet Secretary and Assistant Minister for Science, Technology and the Digital Economy Andrew Charlton spoke to The Conversation’s politics podcast on Wednesday afternoon – before the details of a national agreement on AI emerged from a National Cabinet meeting between the prime minister and state and territory leaders.

Politics with Michelle Grattan: Andrew Charlton’s warning on data centres’ impact on power bills

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