Lawmaker proposes bill that could help prevent spikes in household energy bills: 'Putting an incredible strain on the grid'
The Illinois suburbs have become a focus area for the data center boom, with about a dozen new projects underway. As the Daily Herald reported, a recently filed bill aims to determine how much electricity and water these data centers consume to mitigate their impact on energy costs and the climate.
Data centers house computer systems used for 5G telecommunications, cloud storage, AI data processing, and cryptocurrency mining. Powering and cooling those computers requires a lot of energy, straining power grids and water resources.
"As data centers continue to multiply, they are putting an incredible strain on the grid," the bill's sponsor, state Sen. Steve Stadelman, said, per the Herald.
The Illinois Data Center Energy and Water Reporting Act is intended to ensure residents don't bear the brunt of rising energy costs due to this booming industry.
A similar bill recently advanced in Minnesota.
"We want a better sense of their water and energy usage and how it will impact costs, consumer prices, and consumption," Stadelman told Axios.
Data centers are a resource hog, reportedly consuming billions of gallons of water nationally for cooling each year and using vast amounts of electricity. The United States has the most data centers in the world, with over 5,400 facilities, according to Statista. Even a mid-sized data center consumes around 300,000 gallons of water a day, or about as much as 1,000 U.S. households, NPR reported in 2022.
Larger data centers, like those operated by Google or Amazon, can use up to 550,000 gallons of water per day, a University of Illinois study found.
The rise of AI has only increased the demand for data centers. On average, large language models like ChatGPT use nearly 10 times as much electricity to process as a Google search, according to Goldman Sachs Research.
Do you think our power grid needs to be upgraded?
Definitely
Only in some states
Not really
I'm not sure
Click your choice to see results and speak your mind.
Cryptocurrency mining is another energy-intensive activity. A single crypto transaction can use more power than six U.S. houses consume in an entire day, according to EnergyStar. While the crypto industry has made an effort to utilize sustainable energy and implement cleaner tech, mining still largely relies on dirty energy.
Experts are concerned data centers could pass these energy costs onto consumers.
"Suppose those data companies can outbid everyday ratepayers for electricity generation," Sarah Moskowitz, executive director of the Citizens Utility Board, said in a Capitol News Illinois report posted by Shaw Local News Network. "In that case, that is removed from the overall markets and exacerbates real or perceived energy supply shortages that drive up market prices."
Energy providers are also turning to dirty fuels to make up for the shortfall, which could delay the transition away from planet-warming fossil fuels.
"In Virginia, for example, they are building fossil fuel generators alongside renewables because they did not have an adequate plan to support the demand of power data centers required through renewable energy," Andrew Chien, a University of Chicago professor, explained to the Daily Herald.
Data centers are here to stay, but the proposed bill could help ensure data center operators don't monopolize the water and power residents use.
Under the bill, data centers in Illinois would need to report their annual water and energy consumption or face a $10,000 fine, per the Herald. Officials will analyze this data to determine if residential ratepayers are subsidizing the cost of power-hungry data centers.
Efforts are being made to lower the energy required to power data centers. Ionic wind is being explored as an alternative method to cool data centers instead of water. Operators are utilizing more affordable energy to power data centers, like Google's battery-powered Arizona facility.
This shift to clean energy is a move in the right direction, Chien said.
"I think the right way to deal with this is to build capacity with those clean energy resources to be prepared for the growth in data centers," Chien added. "If we are prepared, we would not only attract jobs and investments. We would also do so in a way that does not increase carbon emissions."
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