Washington is taking a closer look at who is really paying for America’s AI boom.
On Tuesday, Sens. Elizabeth Warren, Chris Van Hollen, and Richard Blumenthal opened an investigation into whether the rapid buildout of massive data centers is pushing electricity costs onto everyday consumers. The lawmakers sent letters to the CEOs of Meta $META ( ▼ 1.16% ) , Microsoft $MSFT ( ▼ 0.06% ) , Amazon $AMZN ( ▼ 0.58% ) , Google $GOOGL ( ▼ 3.21% ) , CoreWeave $CRWV ( ▼ 7.12% ) , Digital Realty $DLR ( ▼ 1.26% ) , and Equinix $EQIX ( ▼ 1.36% ) , asking how their power-hungry facilities are affecting local utility rates.
AI Power Meets Household Bills
The concern is simple. As Big Tech races to build energy-intensive data centers, utilities are spending billions to upgrade grids to keep up. According to the senators, those costs may be getting passed directly to households.
“Through these utility price increases, American families bankroll the electricity costs of trillion-dollar tech companies,” the lawmakers wrote. It is a sharp framing that reflects growing political unease around the infrastructure demands of AI.
The Numbers Fueling the Scrutiny
Electricity prices nationwide are already rising, up 6.2% over the past year. A recent Bloomberg analysis added more fuel to the fire, finding that customers living within 50 miles of major data centers saw utility rates jump by as much as 276% over the past five years.
That data has helped turn what was once a niche energy issue into a broader consumer-cost debate, especially in smaller communities hosting large data center campuses.
The companies have until January 12, 2026, to respond. How they explain the balance between AI growth, grid investment, and household power bills could shape the next phase of the data center boom.