Rising household electricity bills across the United States are drawing increased scrutiny of energy-hungry data centers, prompting legislators and regulators to consider forcing Big Tech to shoulder a larger share of grid costs. Independent market monitor Monitoring Analytics estimated that data-center demand accounted for 70%—about $9.3 billion—of last year’s wholesale power-price increase in the mid-Atlantic region. A separate Wood Mackenzie study found that 20 proposed or enacted specialized rates for data centers in 16 states still leave utilities short of the sums needed to finance new natural-gas generation, shifting costs to ordinary customers. Policy responses are accelerating. Oregon in June ordered its utility commission to design higher data-center tariffs after residential bills rose roughly 50% in four years. New Jersey’s governor last month directed regulators to examine “unreasonable” rate hikes linked to data-center hookups, while Pennsylvania and four other states have pressed grid operator PJM Interconnection to curb price spikes. Altogether, more than a dozen states are weighing measures that could make tech companies pay more for the infrastructure their facilities require.