This fall, the Illinois General Assembly took a critical step toward dealing with electricity price spikes when it passed the Clean & Reliable Grid Affordability Act — sweeping energy-reform legislation that, among many pro-consumer provisions, expands energy efficiency and brings more battery storage to tackle painfully high electric bills. But now it’s time to turn to another looming crisis, both here in Illinois and across the region: the impacts of power-hungry data centers on our bills.

The board of PJM — a little-known organization that greatly impacts how affordable electricity is for 67 million customers across 13 states — is about to decide whether data centers will pay their fair share.

Advocates say new data centers in the biggest U.S. power market should have to stop using electricity when demand peaks to help rein in costs. Tech companies disagree.

What’s happening?
On Wednesday, November 19, PJM members will vote on how to integrate data centers into the grid. As we’ve detailed elsewhere, data centers require massive amounts of electricity and drive up consumer costs. Some, but not all, proposals would ensure that data centers only connect to the electric system if we maintain reliability and affordability.

At a media briefing hosted by Consumers for a Better Grid on October 22, experts from the Citizens Utility Board of Illinois and the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) provided context for what is at stake for consumers and grid reliability if skyrocketing data center energy demand isn’t addressed, and provided potential solutions that put consumers first.