Rapid expansion of artificial-intelligence data centers by Amazon, Microsoft and Google is reshaping the U.S. electricity market and pushing costs onto consumers, according to regulators and academic studies. Data centers accounted for more than 4% of national power use in 2023 and could absorb up to 12% by 2028, New York Times reporting shows. Local impacts are already visible. In Northern Virginia, the world’s largest data-center hub, the facilities now draw roughly 25% of regional electricity. In Ohio, surging demand tied to planned AI campuses lifted the average household bill by at least $15 a month starting in June, grid data indicate. A Carnegie Mellon-North Carolina State analysis projects average U.S. electricity rates will climb 8% by 2030, with increases of as much as 25% in Virginia, unless tech companies shoulder more of the cost of new generation and transmission. Utilities warn that under-utilised capacity reserved for data centers could leave ordinary customers paying for idle infrastructure. Regulators are beginning to act. The Public Utilities Commission of Ohio voted 5-0 to create a separate rate class that forces data centers and cryptocurrency mines to pay for 85% of the capacity they request. The industry is appealing but is also building its own power plants—including nuclear units—to secure supply; tech-sector energy subsidiaries have booked about $2.2 billion in electricity sales over the past five years. Industry executives acknowledge that electricity is becoming a critical bottleneck. “The single biggest constraint is power,” Amazon Chief Executive Officer Andy Jassy told investors, underscoring how the AI boom is tying corporate growth to the stability—and cost—of the nation’s grid.