1.0Citizens Utility Boardhttps://www.citizensutilityboard.orgrich600338<blockquote class="wp-embedded-content" data-secret="2lINODXlXa"><a href="https://www.citizensutilityboard.org/blog/2025/08/19/how-data-centers-are-raising-our-bills-in-illinois-and-what-we-should-do-about-it/">How data centers are raising our bills in Illinois–and what we should do about it</a></blockquote><iframe sandbox="allow-scripts" security="restricted" src="https://www.citizensutilityboard.org/blog/2025/08/19/how-data-centers-are-raising-our-bills-in-illinois-and-what-we-should-do-about-it/embed/#?secret=2lINODXlXa" width="600" height="338" title="“How data centers are raising our bills in Illinois–and what we should do about it” — Citizens Utility Board" data-secret="2lINODXlXa" frameborder="0" marginwidth="0" marginheight="0" scrolling="no" class="wp-embedded-content"></iframe><script type="text/javascript"> /* <![CDATA[ */ /*! This file is auto-generated */ !function(d,l){"use strict";l.querySelector&&d.addEventListener&&"undefined"!=typeof URL&&(d.wp=d.wp||{},d.wp.receiveEmbedMessage||(d.wp.receiveEmbedMessage=function(e){var t=e.data;if((t||t.secret||t.message||t.value)&&!/[^a-zA-Z0-9]/.test(t.secret)){for(var s,r,n,a=l.querySelectorAll('iframe[data-secret="'+t.secret+'"]'),o=l.querySelectorAll('blockquote[data-secret="'+t.secret+'"]'),c=new RegExp("^https?:$","i"),i=0;i<o.length;i++)o[i].style.display="none";for(i=0;i<a.length;i++)s=a[i],e.source===s.contentWindow&&(s.removeAttribute("style"),"height"===t.message?(1e3<(r=parseInt(t.value,10))?r=1e3:~~r<200&&(r=200),s.height=r):"link"===t.message&&(r=new URL(s.getAttribute("src")),n=new URL(t.value),c.test(n.protocol))&&n.host===r.host&&l.activeElement===s&&(d.top.location.href=t.value))}},d.addEventListener("message",d.wp.receiveEmbedMessage,!1),l.addEventListener("DOMContentLoaded",function(){for(var e,t,s=l.querySelectorAll("iframe.wp-embedded-content"),r=0;r<s.length;r++)(t=(e=s[r]).getAttribute("data-secret"))||(t=Math.random().toString(36).substring(2,12),e.src+="#?secret="+t,e.setAttribute("data-secret",t)),e.contentWindow.postMessage({message:"ready",secret:t},"*")},!1)))}(window,document); /* ]]> */ </script> [vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]There’s been a lot of buzz about the impact of data centers on electricity demand–CUB Illinois Executive Director Sarah Moskowitz recently spoke at length about it on a Chicago radio station. This Q&A attempts to get through the hype and give Illinois consumers some facts.  What are data centers? A data center is a facility that houses computer systems used for storing, processing and distributing data.  A growing number of these facilities are used to power artificial intelligence. A report by Illinois PIRG, Environment Illinois Research & Education Center and Frontier Group shows that the number of data centers in the United States about doubled between 2021-2024, and Chicago is one of the nation’s biggest data center markets. Released in January, the report said at the time that data centers drew 5.43 percent of all the electricity consumed in the state. That was expected to grow–the Chicago Sun-Times reported last December that 30 more data centers were planned in the state. But as CUB pointed out in that article, such centers don’t always get built–and it’s a big problem if such “phantom data centers” needlessly add to our costs. (But more on that later.)  How much energy do they use? A lot! Our friends at the Citizens Utility Board of Minnesota reported that a single Amazon data center being built in that state will require 600 MW of power– roughly equivalent to the power demand of an entire city. The PIRG/Environment Illinois/Frontier Group report found that while everyone projects a significant increase in power demand from these centers, the estimates vary and are “highly uncertain.” It pointed to the Electric Power Research Institute, which estimated that data center electricity demand could grow anywhere from 29 percent to 166 percent (from 2023) levels by 2030.  Are data centers impacting our electric bills in Illinois?  Yes–painfully so. On June 1, ComEd and Ameren customers were hit with price spikes, due to a surge in power demand and poor policy from power grid operators that have failed to adapt to the changing energy market, including this new challenge of data centers. Those spikes have cost customers hundreds of dollars in higher power bills this summer–with some consumers complaining of triple-digit increases. The direct reason for these bill increases is a surge in the cost for reserve electricity, also called “capacity.” Capacity prices are set by auctions run by the grid operators, PJM Interconnection for ComEd customers and the Midcontinent Independent System Operator (MISO) for Ameren customers.  The Associated Press reported that the Independent Market Monitor for PJM showed that 70 percent — or $9.3 billion — of this year’s increase in electricity cost was the result of data center demand.  PJM has already run its 2026/27 auction, where the capacity price surged to yet another record, beating the previous year. As Clara Summers, manager of CUB’s Consumers for a Better Grid Campaign, has already reported, the biggest contributor to this most recent auction spike was “large loads,” meaning big customers that use a lot of energy, such as  data centers.  The issue is so pronounced that in August, PJM’s Market Monitor recommended that […]https://www.citizensutilityboard.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/Data-Centers-blog-photo.png600450