Data Centers, Electricity Bills & the GOP’s 2006 Mistake |9|16|26

Today, I debunk one of the biggest lies surrounding the massive data-center takeover: the claim that hyperscale data centers will simply pay for the enormous electricity generation, transmission infrastructure, and other costs they create. The numbers tell a different story. PJM’s independent market monitor has reported that data-center load growth is a major driver of recent capacity-market conditions and higher costs, with its analysis estimating billions of dollars in additional capacity-market costs attributable to data-center demand. I prove that what is happening with the data-center grift is antithetical to a free-market technology revolution. It’s a government-supported immoral transfer of costs and resources toward Big Tech. By supporting this grift, Republicans risk repeating the political pattern of 2006–2008 by remaining closely aligned with an unpopular Republican president rather than separating themselves from policies they believe are hurting them politically and are not conservative anyway.  I compare today's political environment with the final years of the George W. Bush presidency and ask a central question: How can Republicans repeat the same strategy and expect a different political result? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices