AI poses threat to clean energy mandates, affordability

SOURCE: https://www.timesunion.com/capitol/article/ai-development-raise-energy-costs-20811891.php

PUBLISHED: 08/17/25

Data centers powering AI are among the reasons electricity projections are ramping up in New York and across the country. But some argue the rise of AI is just another technocratic ruse.

“Data centers account for nearly half of electricity demand growth between now and 2030 (in the U.S.),” an April report from the International Energy Agency stated. “By the end of the decade, the country is set to consume more electricity for data centers than for the production of aluminum, steel, cement, chemicals and all other energy-intensive goods combined.”

All that power comes at a cost: upstate New Yorkers pay an extra $88 annually because of large-scale energy-intensive crypto mining, researchers from Berkeley and the University of Chicago found. Tax revenue from the crypto mines only made up for a small portion of the costs.

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