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As CNN recently reported, utility customers in Maryland and Washington, DC, are some of the first in the country to see the effects of the data center boom show up on their residential electricity bills. Much of that price increase is due to the anticipation of future demand. The energy industry can see that data centers and other customers are going to be pulling a lot more power just a few years from now. There's not currently supply to meet that, so access to the extra electricity that will be needed soon must be secured in advance.
In the mid-Atlantic, those purchases are made through regional auctions. At a recent one, prices hit a record high — and would have gone up even more if not for a price cap set in the wake of a lawsuit brought by Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro.
Both the auction prices and the lawsuit reflect a growing dynamic in the region, which is home to the world's largest cluster of data centers — in Virginia — and more being added in other states including Ohio and Maryland. Data centers are consuming far more power than currently exists on the grid, driving prices higher amid a scramble to own the rights to future power.
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📸: Will Waldron/Albany Times Union/Getty Images/File
