Bloomberg has finally woken up to the power bill crisis erupting across the Mid-Atlantic. Years of reckless energy policies, such as shuttering reliable fossil fuel power plants in favor of unreliable solar and wind, are colliding head-on with unprecedented electricity demand from AI data centers. The result is a toxic affordability crisis for households, and it is fast becoming a major flashpoint in the upcoming election cycle.
Bloomberg journos Brian Eckhouse and Naureen S Malik noted:
Americans and their politicians have always been acutely sensitive to the price of gasoline. But there's another cost-of-living issue that's gaining prominence in the collective political consciousness: what consumers pay to keep the lights on.
Electricity prices increased nationally at more than twice the rate of overall inflation during the past year. Demand is expanding at its fastest pace in decades, driven by the boom in artificial intelligence, building of factories and adoption of electric vehicles.
The Trump administration blames renewables for the higher prices, and it's using that argument to thwart offshore wind projects approved during Joe Biden's presidency while promoting natural gas, coal and nuclear power.
It's great to see corporate media finally catching up:
Power Costs Are Now A Major Political Issue In US:
In fact, the power crisis in the Mid-Atlantic area first surfaced on our radar after Goldman warned in an August 2024 report:
"After a series of auction delays and relatively low clears (see chart below), PJM capacity prices appear to have finally caught up with the generative AI data center load growth story that has been central to parts of PJM."
And why do Maryland and surrounding states, such as New Jersey, face soaring power bills that threaten to derail Democrats? Because poor grid management and the reckless pursuit of net zero have transformed grids into a gigantic mess, driving power bills higher, limited spare capacity in the era of data center expansion pushes grids closer to crisis, if not already there.
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