The Best Way To Keep Data Centers From Driving Up Electricity Costs

“The costs associated with new data centers—which can bring thousands of jobs and millions of dollars in revenue to nearby communities—could be better kept under control simply by making it easier for power companies to meet demand.

That's the approach that lawmakers in Ohio and New Hampshire have taken. Each state has implemented a policy framework called "consumer-regulated energy" (CRE) to allow the owners of data centers (and other major industrial facilities) to buy their power from third-party providers instead of the centralized grid.

Not only does that keep any given facility's energy needs isolated from the rest of the grid—which, according to a Cato Institute report, means that big data centers can be built and powered at "zero cost to taxpayers and ratepayers"—it also speeds up their construction tremendously. When data centers can source their power from a third party, they bypass much of the decade's worth of infrastructure buildout that's necessary to connect to the grid.

A CRE-adjacent framework could soon be implemented nationwide. Earlier this year, Sen. Tom Cotton (R–Ark.) introduced the DATA Act, which would exempt off-grid data centers from federal regulations, making the entire process faster and cheaper.

If data center construction is increasing electricity bills, the best solution isn't a knee-jerk ban on the industry. It's common-sense reforms that make it possible for everyone, and every data center, to get the power they need.”

https://reason.com/2026/06/08/the-best-way-to-keep-data-centers-from-driving-up-electricity-costs/