Are data centres making my electricity bill go up?
The claim: “Data centres are pushing up everyone’s electricity bills.”
Partly, depending on where you live. In the eastern US grid run by PJM, the independent market monitor calls data-centre load growth the primary reason capacity prices jumped. It estimates data-centre load raised revenue in the 2026/2027 capacity auction by $7.3 billion (82.1%), and made up about 9% ($10.48 per MWh) of the wholesale cost of power in the first seven months of 2026. These are what-if estimates, not measured bills: what reaches yours depends on your utility and state.
The bigger pictureAcross US states from 2019 to 2025, Berkeley Lab found those with the highest demand growth generally saw average prices fall after inflation, and says data-centre load doesn’t appear to change that. In PJM, the market monitor’s estimates point to data centres pushing capacity costs up.
Why the claim misleads
True in some regions, stated as if it were true everywhere.
What nobody knows yet
- Nobody has measured how much of a given household’s bill increase is caused by data centres; the monitor’s figures compare real auctions with a world without data-centre load.
- Much of the monitor’s estimate rests on forecast data-centre load, and the monitor itself calls the accuracy of those forecasts highly questionable.
- The monitor’s figures cover the capacity market. Maryland’s consumer advocate says data centres also raise energy and transmission costs; Hum hasn’t sourced a figure for those.
- Berkeley Lab warns the past pattern (more demand, lower prices) may not hold as data-centre growth speeds up.
- Hum hasn’t yet checked PJM’s own or utilities’ estimates of the bill effect.
Sources (10)
- Monitoring Analytics, PJM's Independent Market Monitor: 2026 Quarterly State of the Market Report for PJM, January through June, Section 1 Estimated
“Data center load growth is the primary reason for recent and expected capacity market conditions, including total forecast load growth, the tight supply and demand balance, and high prices.”
Quote checked on the page, 25 Oct 2026 - Monitoring Analytics, PJM's Independent Market Monitor: Analysis of the 2026/2027 RPM Base Residual Auction, Part A (1 October 2025) Estimated
“Inclusion of 11,993 MW (Table 4) of existing and forecast data center load in the peak load forecast for 2026 resulted in a $7,271,197,971 or an 82.1 percent increase in capacity market revenues for the 2026/2027 RPM Base Residual Auction compared to what RPM revenues would have been had PJM cleared the auction with a peak load forecast that did not include load from existing and planned data centers”
Quote checked on the page, 25 Oct 2026 - Monitoring Analytics, PJM's Independent Market Monitor: Market Monitor Report to the PJM Members Committee (19 August 2026), PJM wholesale power cost, January to July 2026 Estimated
“In the first seven months of 2026, the total cost per MWh of wholesale power increased by $10.48 (9.0 percent) from $106.05 without data center load impacts included in the total cost of wholesale power to $116.53 when the data center load impact is included.”
Quote checked on the page, 25 Oct 2026 - Monitoring Analytics, PJM's Independent Market Monitor: Market Monitor Report to the PJM Members Committee (19 August 2026) Estimated
“Not all of the increase in capacity market costs was a result of data center load.”
Quote checked on the page, 25 Oct 2026 - Monitoring Analytics, PJM's Independent Market Monitor: 2026 Quarterly State of the Market Report for PJM, January through June, Section 1 Estimated
“Forecast data center load growth has been the primary cause to date and the accuracy of those forecasts is highly questionable.”
Quote checked on the page, 25 Oct 2026 - Maryland Office of People's Counsel (state consumer advocate), press release on the PJM capacity auction, 17 December 2025 Measured
“reflecting already high capacity market costs that most Maryland customers started seeing on their electric bills in September this year”
Quote checked on the page, 25 Oct 2026 - Maryland Office of People's Counsel (state consumer advocate), press release on the PJM capacity auction, 17 December 2025 Estimated
“Data centers also increase energy costs and transmission costs for Maryland customers.”
Quote checked on the page, 25 Oct 2026 - Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and The Brattle Group: Retail Electricity Price Trends and Drivers (July 2026 update), US states Measured
“From 2019 to 2025, states with the highest growth generally saw average retail prices decline in real terms”
Quote checked on the page, 25 Oct 2026 - Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and The Brattle Group: Retail Electricity Price Trends and Drivers (July 2026 update) Estimated
“Note: Presence of significant data center load does not appear to alter conclusions”
Quote checked on the page, 25 Oct 2026 - Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and The Brattle Group: Retail Electricity Price Trends and Drivers (July 2026 update) Forecast
“However, historical relationships may not be relevant going forward, given accelerating actual and prospective load growth”
Quote checked on the page, 25 Oct 2026
Hum’s sums
- The monitor's $7,271,197,971 is about $7.3 billion.
- $10.48 of the $116.53 per MWh wholesale cost is about 9%.
Cite this
Monitoring Analytics, PJM's Independent Market Monitor: 2026 Quarterly State of the Market Report for PJM, January through June, Section 1, as quoted in Hum, “Are data centres making my electricity bill go up?”, https://humearth.org/q/bills (quote checked 25 Oct 2026).
Cite the original source first; Hum is where you found it.
What do Wh, kWh and TWh mean?
Wh is a watt-hour: a 1-watt light left on for an hour. 1 kWh = 1,000 Wh, and 1 TWh = 1 billion kWh. Hum compares each number with something everyday so you don’t need the units.
Send this answer
PJM’s independent market monitor estimates data-centre load raised the eastern US grid’s 2026/2027 capacity auction revenue by $7.3 billion (82.1%). What reaches your bill depends on your utility and state.