A data center that doesn’t even exist can raise your electricity bill

An Amazon Web Services data center in Manassas, Virginia. Virginia is home to the largest concentration of data centers in PJM, a power grid that spans 13 states and Washington, DC. Your electricity bill is rising. Naturally, you’re mad about it and looking around at who to blame. But it’s not a who, it’s a what — and the recent AI-driven data center construction spree is at least partly the reason why. Copious data centers have sprung up across the United States, nearly doubling in number between 2021 and 2024, with no end in sight to their rapid spread. According to consulting firm