- Some states could see 57% price hikes in energy bills – Virginia and Texas hit the hardest
- Digital infrastructure could account for one-fifth of energy demand by 2030
- This study points to a severe lack of wind and solar
New research by Jeremiah X Johnson et al, published in Environmental Research Letters, has revealed that in some of the most extreme regional cases, wholesale electricity costs could surge by up to 57% by the end of the decade in some US states.
The projection is based on historical trends and growth scenarios, and reveals that Virginia and Texas could be hit the hardest due to a combination of intense data center development and limited renewable energy resources.
Nationally, the US could face energy price hikes of between 6% and 29%, the paper claims, which would mark an unwelcome change from the stable energy prices that citizens have experienced over the past decade or so.
Data centers could push some states' energy bills up 57%, US up 29%
While data centers are largely to blame for the sharp rises in energy demands, the paper's authors criticize the US' current reliance on legacy fossil fuel infrastructure, which can be prone to variable costs.
Ongoing conflict in the Middle East is proof of that, with citizens already facing higher gas prices at the pump.
The study, which runs a variety of models and highlights its influence by global fluctuations, reveals that digital instructor could account for as much as 20% of US energy demand by 2030.
As much as 90% of the country's energy will come from natural gas (64% to 76%) and coal (12% to 14%) to meet data center infrastructure demand, highlighting a severe shortage of, and underinvestment in, renewable sources like solar, wind and hydro. Conversely, wind only accounts for 7% to 12% and solar 5% to 12%.
Costs aside, the researchers also warn that intense fossil fuel use could push total US power sector CO2 emissions up by 28%.
It's broadly recognized that data centers are better placed in certain regions than others due to environmental and infrastructural factors, like grid connection availability and cooling limitations, but the researchers imply that spreading campuses evenly across the country could go a long way to eliminating regional price hikes – at the cost of higher total emissions.
"Collectively, these results point to the importance of robust policy frameworks and diversified energy portfolios in managing the risks of rapid demand growth," the paper concludes.
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