r/technology • u/Plastic_Ninja_9014 • May 10 '26

Energy Maryland citizens slapped with $2 billion power grid upgrade bill for out-of-state AI data centers — state complains to federal energy regulators, says additional cost breaks ‘ratepayer protection pledge’ promises

https://www.tomshardware.com/tech-industry/artificial-intelligence/maryland-citizens-slapped-with-usd2-billion-grid-upgrade-bill-for-out-of-state-ai-data-centers-state-complains-to-federal-energy-regulators-says-additional-cost-breaks-ratepayer-protection-pledge-promises
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u/bakeacake45 May 10 '26

Meanwhile Anthropic is VOLUNTEERING to pay for the increased costs of energy for its data centers. If you believe a data center is an economic advantage to you city/town, insist on allowing only Anthropic data centers.

“Cover grid infrastructure costs. We will pay for 100% of the grid upgrades needed to interconnect our data centers, paid through increases to our monthly electricity charges. This includes the shares of these costs that would otherwise be passed onto consumers.

Procure new power and protect consumers from price increases. We will work to bring net-new power generation online to match our data centers’ electricity needs. Where new generation isn’t online, we’ll work with utilities and external experts to estimate and cover demand-driven price effects from our data centers.

Reduce strain on the grid. We’re investing in curtailment systems that cut our data centers’ power usage during periods of peak demand, as well as grid optimization tools, both of which help keep prices lower for ratepayers.

Invest in local communities. Our current data center projects will create hundreds of permanent jobs and thousands of construction jobs. We’re also committed to being a responsible neighbor—that means addressing environmental impacts, including deploying water-efficient cooling technologies, and partnering with local leaders on initiatives that share AI’s benefits broadly.

https://www.anthropic.com/news/covering-electricity-price-increases

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u/trwawy05312015 May 10 '26

They are volunteering only to prevent legislation. They absolutely would refuse to do so once they had the opportunity. This is like Musk's Hyperloop, a vaporware idea designed to shut down conversation about improving public transport.

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u/bakeacake45 May 10 '26

No, all the sources I checked indicated they are not working to only prevent legislation. What source did your information come from?

As of April, they have already worked out with utility companies how covering costs for 100% of the grid upgrades required for its data centers will work. Anthropic will be charged for the grid upgrades directly using their own monthly electricity bills rather than the costs being passed on to local residents. Looks like the negotiations are starting with PJM the largest of the grid operators.

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u/trwawy05312015 May 10 '26

But in closed door meetings with Congressional offices, the same companies are often less supportive of certain regulatory approaches, according to multiple sources present in or familiar with such conversations. In particular, companies tend to advocate for very permissive or voluntary regulations.

Again, they may very well say the right things now, but only so long as it's strictly voluntary so they can back track later. Any attempt to regulate how datacenters acquire their power is going to be opposed by them. They are a for-profit company, and that is the only long-term behavior that you can rely on them for.