AI data centers now eat up 4 % of US electricity and rising. Your rising power bill is paying to shuffle memes and train AI.

Data centers built to serve TikToks and ad targeting are quietly draining our grids. U.S. Energy Information Administration forecasts electricity use slicing through records, rising from 4,097 billion kWh in 2024 to 4,193 billion in 2025 and 4,283 billion in 2026, largely due to AI data center growth https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/data-center-demand-push-us-power-use-record-highs-2025-26-eia-says-2025-06-10/. In 2023 data centers consumed 4.4 % of …

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Netherlands begins electricity rationing while UK and France brace for grid failures across Europe

Europe’s energy backbone is cracking. The Netherlands has confirmed it will begin electricity rationing this summer to relieve pressure on its overstretched grid. Industrial zones in Rotterdam and Eindhoven will face rolling curtailments during peak hours. Residential areas are being asked to reduce usage voluntarily. The government says it’s a “preventative measure,” but the grid …

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Computer gear makes largest GDP impact ever recorded, spending spike stuns sharper than 1990s buildup, electricity crisis looms

Remarkable chart. Spending on computer equipment just made its largest contribution to GDP on record in the most recent quarter. Unlike the steady buildup we saw in the 1990s, this time we’re seeing a sharp, sudden surge. I don't think the world is prepared for the surge in… pic.twitter.com/oe8pzP6CuB — Otavio (Tavi) Costa (@TaviCosta) May …

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Electricity demand surges while U.S. shutters reliable power sources. America follows Europe’s blackout-prone energy path

America is at high risk of blackouts because we decided to retire a bunch of power plants and replace them with solar and wind, right as demand for electricity started to rise. We are still on the same track as Western Europe, just a bit behind. pic.twitter.com/PediUBTWPk — Russ Greene (@GreenPlusAnE) May 15, 2025 A …

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Electricity prices spike 450 percent in Spain.

Electricity in Spain is up 450% . Spaniards had to live with the consequences of a 12h blackout. And now, we have to pay for it. This is ridiculous. — Ada Lluch (@AdaLluch) May 1, 2025 After the blackout in Spain that lasted throughout Monday and a big part of Tuesday morning in some areas, …

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AI surge could double US electricity demand in just five years. China gap highlights coming American power crunch if onshoring accelerates

This is one of the most important charts I’ve seen in a long time. AI alone could drive electricity demand equivalent to adding another US economy in the next 5 years. Another point that’s probably flying under the radar: look at the gap between the US and China. If onshoring… pic.twitter.com/c83AhCBcW5 — Otavio (Tavi) Costa …

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Solar Power Surge Sinks Europe’s Electricity Prices Deep Below Zero

By Charles Kennedy Spot power prices crashed below zero in several Northern European countries this weekend. Negative power prices, while beneficial for some consumers in some countries, generally discourage investments in new capacity. Solar output in Europe is soaring and is set to boom this summer. A sunny weekend in northwest Europe plunged power prices …

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Wireless electricity could redefine global power systems, ending the need for power lines.

“Tesla Laughed at Us from the Grave”: Wireless Electricity Finally Powers Entire Homes After 124 Years of Scientific Struggle … In a groundbreaking development that could redefine global energy infrastructure, scientists are on the brink of realizing a century-old dream: transmitting electricity wirelessly to power entire homes, potentially eliminating the need for traditional power lines. …

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Scientists challenge electricity theory with discovery of ‘quantum soup’ electrons.

US Researchers have proposed that in particular “strange metals,” electrons appear to lose their individual identities, merging into a featureless “quantum soup.” … Utilizing ‘shot noise’ measurement technique To investigate this anomaly, scientists employed a technique known as shot noise measurement. Shot noise measures the random fluctuations in an electrical current. This reveals the discrete …

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Ontario slaps 25% tax increase on electricity exports to US in response to Trump’s trade war.

TORONTO (AP) — Ontario’s premier, the leader of Canada’s most populous province, announced that effective Monday it is charging 25% more for electricity to 1.5 million Americans in response to U.S. President Donald Trump’s trade war. Ontario provides electricity to Minnesota, New York and Michigan. “I will not hesitate to increase this charge. If the …

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No gas through Ukraine – no electricity for Ukraine

Slovakia provides assistance to Kyiv and expects the same attitude towards itself. This should not be exclusively a “one-way traffic”, the Slovak Prime Minister wrote on his Facebook page “I must say frankly that Zelensky absolutely rejects a ceasefire. He firmly believes that first, he must get everything he is asking for …” “I spoke …

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BlackRock, Vanguard, State Street sued for allegedly using market power to raise electricity prices.

🔥 BlackRock Inc., Vanguard Group Inc. and State Street Corp. were sued by a group of states led by Texas for allegedly breaking antitrust law by boosting electricity prices through their investments, in the highest-profile lawsuit yet against the beleaguered ESG industry. Texas… pic.twitter.com/SLo0snWnmx — Melissa Hallman (@dotconnectinga) November 27, 2024 BlackRock Inc., Vanguard Group …

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Data centers powering artificial intelligence could use more electricity than entire cities

Data center campuses power artificial intelligence and cloud computing The campuses could grow so large that finding enough power and suitable land to accommodate them becomes increasingly difficult. Renewable energy alone won’t be sufficient anytime soon to meet their power needs. Natural gas will have to play a role, which will slow progress toward meeting …

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Russia Bans Winter Cryptocurrency Mining in Siberia, North Caucasus and Occupied Ukraine Due to Electricity Shortage

Authorities in Russia announced Tuesday plans to ban cryptocurrency mining in several regions this winter to address electricity shortages. The ban will affect the Irkutsk region, parts of the republic of Buryatia and the Zabaikalsky region in Siberia, as well as six regions in the North Caucasus, including the republics of Chechnya and Dagestan. It …

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Who would have thought that a major country needs constant and not sporadic electricity supply. Shocking, really shocking.

https://twitter.com/MichaelAArouet/status/1855708664440434731 https://twitter.com/porterstansb/status/1855653030772801923 Germany’s industrial production plunges to lowest levels since COVID and 2008 crisis. That’s why Germany must keep its gas power plants parallel to renewables. Parallel infrastructure makes energy so expensive in Germany — Michael A. Arouet (@MichaelAArouet) November 9, 2024

Tower Of Power? US Industries Are Buckling Under Pressure of Surging Electricity Costs (Industrial Electricity Costs UP 24.4% YoY)

by confoundedinterest17 The US is the expensive tower of power … but it should be cheap. Getting rid of coal power was idiotic and The Left’s fear of nuclear power is laughable. EIA data by user classification, chart by Mish. Rising energy bills have forced companies to scale back industrial operations, threatening a greater drag on the economy. …

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All your electricity will be used by AI…. Google signs deal for nuclear reactors.

Microsoft Azure CTO: US data centers will soon hit size limits The data centers that make generative AI products like ChatGPT possible will soon reach size limits, according to Microsoft Azure Chief Technology Officer Mark Russinovich, necessitating a new method of connecting multiple data centers together for future generations of the technology. The most advanced …

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Negative Electricity Prices in the EU are a Problem not a Boon

via notayesmanseconomics I thought that I would look at energy prices in Europe and we start with the general theme that high electricity prices are causing deindustrialisation. In fact when one looks at the numbers the ongoing recession has caused a depression. We have become used to numbers like this. In July 2024, compared with …

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Zapping coastlines with electricity could prevent erosion: Study

(NewsNation) — A zap of electricity could be the cure for Earth’s ailing coastlines, new research from Northwestern University found. The study, published in the journal Communications Earth and the Environment, observed how electrical currents affect the structure of marine sand. The chemical reaction that occurs when electricity is introduced to sand saturated in seawater, …

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Electricity prices just doubled in California

Electricity prices just doubled in California California caught in wild scandal screwing with residents electric bills, using Gavin Newsom’s California Public Utilities Commission to get away with sky high electric bills. Millions of California residents now paying the price.

Inflation Slows To 3.0%, But Shelter Still Rising At 5.2%, Electricity Up 4.4% (Core Prices Continue To Rise And Have Never Been Higher)

by confoundedinterest17 Are you ready? You can tell an election is on the radar since inflation numbers are settling down for the most part. According to the BLS, overall inflation fell slightly in June to 3.0%. Shelter CPI is up 5.14% YoY as M2 Money growth has been rising slowly … again. Core CPI also ‘missed’, rising just …

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Facebook to build data center in Wyoming that will use 10x times more electricity than entire city of Cheyenne.

Social media giant Meta (aka Facebook) formally unveiled plans Tuesday for a massive $800 million, 715,000-square-foot Cheyenne data center. They say at the peak of construction it will generate more than 1,000 jobs. CHEYENNE — While Wyoming residents were going about their day-to-day lives in 2019, public officials and economic developers began working behind the …

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Texas Is Running Out Of Electricity

E rcot, the energy company that operates much of Texas’s electricity grid, announced there could be a problem on April 29. On the 27, it announced, “At 14:30, ERCOT has updated the AAN for a possible future Emergency Condition of reserve capacity deficiency beginning Monday, April 29, 2024, at HE 20:00 through Wednesday, May 1, …

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Costs soon: Your electricity is going way way higher. EPA power plant rules will drive up energy costs and further destabilize U.S. grid.

Brace for higher electricity bills as EPA rules demand costly changes to power plants. CNN’s Bill Weir declares Biden’s coal power plant rules mark the demise of coal energy in America. Key Points: EPA requires carbon capture tech for coal plants, starting 2032, to continue operating past 2039. Carbon capture captures CO2 emissions, but costs …

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Debtflation Nation! Fed Gov’t Spending $2 Billion PER DAY, Debt To GDP Headed To 200%, Electricity Costs SOARING

by confoundedinterest17 Biden and Congress have never met a project that they weren’t willing to fund (except a border wall with Mexico, of course). Inflation is heating up again as the Federal government continues to spend. 4-5% by November… US CPI on trend for 4-5% at US election in November. Source: BofA Above 5%…? Strong CPI …

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How the Inflation Reduction Act Failed to Reduced Electricity Costs in Pictures

via Mike Shedlock Let’s check in on the not exactly impressive energy and inflation results of Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act (IRA). Data from the BLS, chart by Mish Biden’s energy policy has been an inflationary disaster. And make no mistake, the IRA was nothing but energy policy, more precisely, climate policy. The Inflation Reduction Act …

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Electricity prices have skyrocketed by 29.4% since January 2021, outpacing inflation by a whopping 50%!

https://twitter.com/Willhappen411/status/1778727446147207511 Energy prices, particularly the cost of electricity, have skyrocketed since President Biden took office, outpacing inflation and putting a dent in Americans’ wallets. Since January 2021, electricity prices have soared 29.4% — 50% more than overall inflation — rising 13 times faster than the previous seven years, according to a Wall Street Journal analysis of Bureau …

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