PUCO Tells Tech Centers to Pay Higher Up Front Costs - WHY WILL TECH CENTERS PAY HIGHER COSTS?
[Tech centers coming to Ohio will need to pay more of their power infrastructure costs. Learn why data center energy costs matter to your bill.]_Learn why cost worries by both utilities and consumers led PUCO to side with them on data tech centers paying much of their infrastructure costs._
Ohio data centers require an enormous amount of power for AI development. But, this higher energy demand could lead to higher electricity rates [http://www.ohenergyratings.com/electricity-rates] for consumers. As a result, PUCO has sided with consumer groups in a recent regulatory decision. New rules now require data centers to pay bigger share of the connection costs up front. To be sure, major tech companies coming to Ohio are not happy with PUCO's decision. So, let's unpack why PUCO wants tech centers to pay these higher up front costs.
WHY CHARGE TECH CENTERS FOR MORE
It's hard to deny that data centers aren't cheap. These huge facilities run hundreds of computers 'round the clock. These machines also need cooling to keep running. As a result, data centers can use close to 600 megawatts (MW) on their own. To put this in perspective, 600 MW can power over 700 Ohio homes for a full year.
As you can guess, data centers are expected to put a lot of pressure on the Ohio grid. For one thing, the costs for upgrading the grid to meet this demand could be passed on to customers [https://www....
