Warren, Senators Secure New Commitments from Big Tech on Electricity Costs, But Companies Dodge Accountability for Hiking Families’ Utility Bills

Warren, Senators Secure New Commitments from Big Tech on Electricity Costs, But Companies Dodge Accountability for Hiking Families' Utility Bills

Text of Responses (PDF)

Washington, D.C. - After U.S. Senators Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), and Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) opened an investigation into the extent to which Big Tech data centers are driving up consumers' electricity costs, the senators today released the responses to their initial inquiry. The senators secured a number of new commitments from the companies about paying their "fair share" of electricity costs, however, the Big Tech firms failed to ensure that they will stop families from paying higher utility bills because of the costs associated with data centers.

"These commitments do not explain how Big Tech companies - not American consumers - will bear the full cost of data centers. Google knows there's a difference between paying its electricity bill and fully covering the significant infrastructure upgrade costs associated with these data centers," said Senator Warren. "If these companies are serious about paying their fair share, at a minimum they'd be more transparent about their data centers' operations instead of forcing local communities to sign NDAs."

"Big Tech's lackluster responses to our inquiry do nothing to assure families that energy-guzzling data centers will stop causing their utility bills to skyrocket. We'll keep up the pressure on Big Tech and work to hold companies accountable for the excessive electricity costs that they're imposing on consumers. It's time for Big Tech to put their money where their mouth is and pay their fair share," said Senator Blumenthal.

"Because of this investigation and our efforts to seek transparency, Big Tech companies are finally beginning to acknowledge that their data centers are saddling consumers with higher electricity costs and straining our power grid - but they still refuse to take full responsibility for these problems they are creating. Without action from Congress, they will continue to evade accountability - which is why I've introduced legislation to require data centers to cover the costs of the energy they need instead of pushing them off to everyone else," said Senator Van Hollen.

Google made new commitments to pay for partial costs of their data centers. For example, Google wrote: "We are committed to paying for all the electricity we use and contributing to other costs associated with growth." They added: "Google is helping address current challenges by paying for provision of our peak electrical demands and for 100 percent of the electricity we use to power our data centers while investing in new energy sources to help lower costs for others."

However, these commitments to pay their electricity bills fail to address many of the costs that data centers impose on consumers. For example, the expensive infrastructure upgrades necessary to connect data centers to the grid are paid for by all energy users, including residents. The companies offered little detail as to how they will ensure they are indeed covering their full share of these infrastructure costs, with some failing to address the issue entirely.

Additionally, several companies, including Microsoft, Coreweave, and Equinix, announced they would support separate rate classes for data centers. This is a reversal from prior industry positions, such as Google's December 2024 statement that a data center-specific rate class would be "discriminatory." It's notable, however, that this commitment alone will not guarantee that data centers pay their fair share. For example, if a Big Tech company were to abandon its data center, a separate rate class-absent other guardrails-would not protect residents from paying higher utility costs.

The companies also refused to provide the information needed to hold them accountable for the high costs they are imposing on Americans. They did not answer the senators' questions about their contracts with utility companies, including the actual rates that the data centers pay. This information is crucial to understanding how costs are passed down to everyday Americans.

Given these responses and the ongoing gaps in information about Big Tech firms' contributions to high utility costs, the senators plan to continue this Senate investigation and their push for data centers to pay their fair share.

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