
TL;DR
Data centers are projected to increase electricity costs for U.S. consumers by $23 billion through 2028 due to rising power demands. State utility commissions are tasked with determining how these costs are allocated among different customer categories.
✦ Why It Matters
Engineers should assess energy efficiency in their data center designs to mitigate future cost impacts on consumers.
Key Takeaways
How It Works
Regulators identify utility costs, allocate them to customer categories, and set prices to recover these costs. This process involves analyzing thousands of cost items and determining how much each customer group should pay based on their electricity usage.
⚠ The Catch
Data centers can adjust their electricity consumption to avoid peak demand charges, potentially shifting costs to residential users who cannot easily modify their usage patterns.
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