Environmental groups demand moratorium on data centers as electricity bills surge 13%

Environmental Organizations Demand Halt to Data Center Construction

More than 230 environmental groups including Greenpeace, Friends of the Earth, and Food and Water Watch have signed a public letter urging Congress to support a moratorium on new data centers across the United States 1

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. The environmental organizations letter calls for an immediate pause on approvals and construction of these energy-intensive facilities until adequate regulations can protect communities from what they describe as runaway damage 3

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. "The rapid, largely unregulated rise of data centers to fuel the AI and crypto frenzy is disrupting communities across the country and threatening Americans' economic, environmental, climate and water security," the letter states 1

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Electricity Bills Surge as AI Data Center Boom Accelerates

Electricity bills have shot up 13% this year, marking the biggest annual increase in the past decade 1

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. A recent survey commissioned by solar installer Sunrun found that eight in 10 consumers worry about data centers negatively affecting their utility bills 1

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. The increased electricity costs stem from artificial intelligence driving unprecedented demand for computing power. Energy demand for data centers is expected to nearly triple over the next decade, jumping from 40 gigawatts today to 106 gigawatts in 2035 1

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. Consumers served by PJM Interconnection, the largest electric grid in the U.S. covering more than 65 million people across 13 states, will pay $16.6 billion to secure future power supplies just to meet demand from data centers from 2025 through 2027 2

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. About 90% of that bill, or $15 billion, is to pay for future data center demand, according to Monitoring Analytics, PJM's independent market monitor, which called this a "massive wealth transfer" from consumers to the data center industry 2

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Significant Water Consumption Raises Resource Security Concerns

Beyond rising utility bills, significant water consumption by data centers has emerged as a critical issue, particularly in drought-prone regions. If the proposed tripling of data centers proceeds over the next five years, these facilities will require as much water as 18.5 million households 3

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. Data centers can consume millions of gallons of water per day to cool equipment, driving up water use costs for residents 4

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. In Amarillo, Texas, advocates are fighting what developers call the world's largest AI data center, warning it could drain the Ogallala Aquifer, a shrinking water lifeline for the Texas Panhandle and southern Great Plains 4

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. Near Tucson, Arizona, a majority-Latino city strained by megadrought, a proposed "Project Blue" data center could consume millions of gallons of water per year, potentially accelerating water security challenges for communities already facing heat stress 4

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Environmental Justice Concerns Target Communities of Color

Environmental justice concerns have intensified as many data centers are being built in marginalized communities that already face higher levels of pollution and climate vulnerability 4

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. A supercomputer data center built by Elon Musk's xAI in Southwest Memphis, a historically Black neighborhood, faces a legal challenge from the NAACP, which says the site's gas generators are violating the Clean Air Act 4

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. Nitrogen dioxide pollution near the site has spiked as much as 79%, according to TIME, raising the risk of asthma and respiratory illness in a community already burdened by high pollution rates 4

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. "Data centers by design do not have a lot of jobs. It's predatory. They target cities desperate for economic development," LaTricea Adams, CEO of the Memphis-based Young, Gifted & Green, told Axios 4

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. The NAACP announced it's bringing together advocates, researchers and regional leaders for a two-day strategy summit in Washington, D.C., to coordinate policy and legal action around what it calls "one of the nation's fastest-expanding environmental justice threats" 4

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Local Opposition Blocks Billions in Data Center Projects

At least 16 data center projects worth a combined $64 billion have been blocked or delayed due to local opposition to rising electricity costs 5

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. Last week, protesters marched outside the headquarters of utility DTE in Detroit, where the company is requesting approval from the Michigan Public Service Commission to supply OpenAI and Oracle with electricity for a 1.4 gigawatt data center 1

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. Protesters expressed concerns about the data center driving up electricity bills, using too much fresh water, and creating traffic congestion 1

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. Also last week, three people were arrested in Wisconsin during a common council meeting about a 902 megawatt data center slated to be part of OpenAI and Oracle's Stargate project 1

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. In Michigan, the OpenAI-led Stargate project is already running into local opposition on a $7 billion data center planned on farmland 3

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Power Infrastructure Costs and Climate Crisis Implications

The build-out of power infrastructure to support data centers raises concerns about carbon emissions and the climate crisis. At the current rate of growth, data centers could add up to 44 million tons of carbon dioxide to the atmosphere by 2030, equivalent to putting an extra 10 million cars onto the road 5

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. An estimated 56 percent of U.S. data center electricity comes from fossil fuels 3

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. Some investors and energy market analysts are questioning whether the AI race has turned into a bubble, one that would prove expensive to unravel as new transmission lines and power plants are built to support those data centers 2

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. The effects are expected to be felt most in states including Virginia, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Illinois, and New Jersey, which are slated for the largest increase in data center capacity 1

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. Much of the expansion will take place in rural areas, where the grid may not be equipped to handle the surge 1

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Political Implications and Societal Instability Risks

The backlash against data centers has become a potent political force, helping propel Democrats to recent electoral successes in governor elections in Virginia and New Jersey, as well as a stunning upset win in a special public service commission poll in Georgia, with candidates campaigning on lowering utility costs and curbing data centers 5

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. About 80 million Americans are currently struggling to pay their bills for electricity and gas, with many voters regardless of political party blaming data centers 5

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. Charles Hua, founder and executive director of PowerLines, a nonpartisan organization, said "we are entering a new era that is all about electricity prices" and noted that "a meaningful chunk of conservative voters vote against the Republican incumbents" in Georgia 5

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. Environmental groups also noted that the data center expansion "compounds the significant and concerning impacts AI is having on society, including lost jobs, social instability and economic concentration" 1

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. The U.S. General Accounting Office released a report this summer stating that "training and using generative AI can result in substantial energy consumption, carbon emissions, and water usage," though tech companies still aren't providing the data needed to understand just how much energy and water data centers use 3

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