Surging electricity rates put data centers on 2026 ballot. Here’s why.
USA TODAY
Jan. 15, 2026, 5:08 a.m. ET
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Voter anger over surging electricity prices is spreading across the country and across partisan lines as energy-guzzling data centers put increasing strain on the power grid and ratepayers’ wallets.
Now analysts warn rising opposition to the massive warehouses powering the artificial intelligence revolution is shaping up to be a major factor in the 2026 midterm elections.
Data centers that provide the computing capacity and storage needed to power AI models like ChatGPT are emerging as the “villain” as Americans face high utility bills, Jefferies analysts said in a report this week.
Every political candidate running for office this election year will be forced “to take a position whether they are pro or con data centers/AI.”
“It is not just an issue at the state and local levels but a federal topic as the election narrative forces the subject in every domain,” they said. “Not only will this feature prominently in state level elections, particularly those where there will be Gubernatorial turnover (term limits and not running again) but also nationally where we think many still underestimate the pivot in the Trump administration to focus on these issues.”USA TODAY Shopping: Shop sales in tech, home, fashion, beauty & more curated by our editors.
Trump: Tech must ‘pay their own way’ on data centers
President Donald Trump has championed data centers as critical to the U.S. economy and to the AI race with China, but he’s facing growing pressure to lower costs for Americans who have soured on his handling of the economy.
Trump addressed voters’ data center concerns on Monday, Jan. 12, saying his administration was working on deals with technology companies to ensure that Americans would not pick up the tab.
“I never want Americans to pay higher Electricity bills because of Data Centers,” Trump said in a post on his Truth Social platform. “We are the ‘HOTTEST’ Country in the World, and Number One in AI. Data Centers are key to that boom, and keeping Americans FREE and SECURE but, the big Technology Companies who build them must ‘pay their own way.’”
Electricity rates have spiked in recent years as utility companies replace aging infrastructure and upgrade the power grid. Data centers only increase energy demands.
A study last year from Carnegie Mellon University and North Carolina State University estimated that data centers and cryptocurrency mining could lead to an 8% increase in the average electricity bill by 2030 and could exceed 25% in major data-center markets such as northern Virginia.
Companies fear of backlash as electricity prices soar
Regions with a high concentration of data centers have seen sharp increases in electricity prices.
“In rural America right now, where data centers are being built, everyone’s already angry because their electricity prices have risen a lot,” Energy Secretary Chris Wright recently told the North American Gas Forum.
Democrat Abigail Spanberger won the Virginia governor’s race in November by promising to lower utility bills amid steep rate hikes that voters blamed on the state’s data-center boom.
Sometimes referred to as the “data center capital of the world” or “data center alley,” Northern Virginia hosts a huge share of the globe’s internet traffic.
“I do think it’s important that the brunt of data centers not be put on ratepayers and, in fact, that they pay their own way and their fair share,” Spanberger said during her campaign.
Technology companies fear the backlash against data centers threatens AI expansion.
Community pushback jumped between April and June last year. In just three months, 20 projects valued at $98 billion were delayed or blocked, more than the total for all previous quarters since 2023, according to Data Center Watch, which tracks the pushback.
Microsoft this week pledged to cover the costs associated with its data centers.
“Especially when tech companies are so profitable, we believe that it’s both unfair and politically unrealistic for our industry to ask the public to shoulder added electricity costs for AI,” Microsoft’s vice chair and president Brad Smith wrote in a blog post. “Instead, we believe the long-term success of AI infrastructure requires that tech companies pay their own way for the electricity costs they create.”
Last year Microsoft scrapped plans to build a data center in Wisconsin after community pushback.
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