You have always paid for millionaires/billionaires projects. The government spends your taxes and gives it to their corporations to build infrastructure and weapons. How do you think we built railroads and space shuttles and tanks?
this post was submitted on 10 Jul 2026
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There was an article I read a while ago that kind of explained it. Basically, the increased datacenter demand forces the grid operator to build more capacity, which requires money. I think there are meetings where they decide how it is distributed across all their corporate and resident ratepayers. Basically the lobbyists argue that the since this new capacity technically benefits rate payers in the form of more capacity, they should take a share of it. Even though none of us are actually going to be using that capacity...
And it doesn't help at all that the grid companies are monopolies
Unpopular opinion, but when competing for a scarce resource, everyone pays more because it is more scarce. Then more gets created (at least in the case of power) and the system equalizes.
It would be better if there was a provision to cover the spike for ratepayers for some number of years.
Large data centers often pay less than home users (due to economies to scale)
Everything is worth what someone is willing to pay.
You're paying thrice:
1: With your spare time in which you give advice on forums and maintain Wikipedia pages. This information is getting slurped up by AI crawlers.
2: Implicitly with your money, to get some new AI doodad on your laptop or your phone, trained on 1.
3: See meme.
And that's why billionaires exists.
See meme
Wait, which?
Hell with billionaires and tax cuts to increase something the average person won't enjoy, I bet it's even more than thrice.
Property tax increase cause property is used but not taxed due to being a 'big project', if another company built there (besides say wal mart it'd be taxed)
Power bill increase, which we see happens to OPs post.
Using land that could benefit the area, it's probably a large complex that could help the locals and not make their power bill larger.
Having a complex that heats up local area for things not beneficial to locals. Global warming but thankfully some ai model will grow?
Using water that makes drinking water worse for locals. Read stories of people near data centers, losing all water pressure so the data center can have water. Cause that's more important than people.
Only helping the person who built it vs the locals. I really have no idea who data centers help. I assume some are for the crappy bit we see when we Google but so many must be private. Also who hasn't learned to go through search results? Seriously that's a skill needed, if you don't have it you need to learn. I may have accepted the new paradigm but I would prefer a bit of work going back to searching.
There no good reason for this crap. They get built but don't benefit anyone but the rich. They just want serfs anyways, is that the real future?
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Isn't sharing the bill while a small group profits exactly how capitalism works?
They're putting data centers in near me (they have been heavily protested, but of course that doesn't do shit, the local government holds lots of meetings that are crowded with people saying they don't want them, and then they shrug and approve them anyway. The last meeting I heard about they just flat out cancelled because too many people were planning on coming and speaking against it). I got a letter from my power company that they're raising electric rates, and would I like to contribute to a fund to help pay other people's bill?
Replace them. Either recruit a candidate or run yourself. Ignoring your voters should have consequences.
Oh I know exactly how I'm voting next election, but the problem is that I live in a conservative area and these dumb fuckers wouldn't vote for their own self interest if you held a gun to their heads, because if they vote for things that benefit them then a brown person or someone on disability might also benefit.
This conundrum is why America has been continuously turning into a shit hole for the lower classes. It goes all the way back to right after the civil rights movement. By the early 70s, most public pools were filled with concrete (supplemented via private country club pools of course) and white private schools were opened up all over the South to exclude blacks. These examples are just a small part of what has been going on over the last 50+ years.
MAGAts want all to suffer, including themselves, if it also means that POCs, women, LGBTQ+, foreigners, leftists, liberals, and other never-Trumpers suffer.
Not to sidestep it, but at what point is doing personal solar a better deal, if you own that is
Unfortunately I rent an apartment. I'd love to do a solar array on my balcony, but it's small and faces north so I don't think it would be cost effective.
Is electricity where you are much cheaper at night?
It's the same rate regardless of the time of day.
sad to read that.
Here in Ontario, the rates are lower at night and during the weekends (a little less than half).
https://www.hydroone.com/rates-and-billing/rates-and-charges/electricity-pricing-and-costs
Time to molatov cocktail the AI daracenter. A sudden unexpected fire happened. Dunno how 🤷♀️
Guess they can just get AI to figure out whodunnit
Egg the diesel, sugar the concrete.
Data centers have lobbying force the citizens lack, they can negotiate for better prices.
Data centers also force power grid upgrades, the cost of which gets unfairly distributed to consumers.
And, data centers have the technology to take advantage of peak pricing, running on low power when electricity costs more and amping up when the price is more favorable.
People need to fight back in force, write their representatives, their energy companies, show up to town halls and increase public pressure to make sure data centers are paying their fair share.
I emailed the department of energy asking it why the cost of the data centers energy is being pushed onto the people and I also mentioned how it seems like a direct conflict of interest.
You think those clowns care about your email?? Probably got put in the trash as soon as it arrived.
Still worth a try asking, right?
Debt trickles down, money trickles up
See? Trickle down economics does work! With debt.
Don't you have something like an energy board to protect your citizens against price hikes by power companies.
If we did, it would be populated by MAGAs who would take bribes to let the power company put ALL the costs on the residential consumers. Except for the wealthy neighborhood. They deserve a break, because they're better.
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How the fuck should a loan program help paying for monthly recurring costs?!
Have you heard of the concept of company towns?
“Capitalism breeds innovation”
Meanwhile we have monthly installments for monthly installments.
Well, in the past (and the present in many places) perpetual unrepayable debts were used as a way to implement slavery without calling it slavery. They call it debt peonage. You know, food for thought.
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I don't really get how the fig leaf of "due to data-centers" is even supposed to work.
They get more demand, so more revenue. Then the fixed costs of the business are spread over more revenue, which is supposed to make the prices better not worse.
I know the profit motive is just extracting whatever the market will bear, but could anyone still explain the reasoning they are trying to make customers believe?
but could anyone still explain the reasoning they are trying to make customers believe?
That's the neat part, they don't have to bother with that!
I don’t really get how the fig leaf of “due to data-centers” is even supposed to work.
It let's them increase their extortionary price hike by more, and blame it on a different extortionist.
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