Externalities - part the fifth

One of the ways the Rich get rich and stay rich is by fobbing off their shit on The Rest of Us. AKA, externalities. They're everywhere. It wasn't all that long ago that the wee little electron problem was crypto mining sucking way too many of them. Now, it's gotten worser. Everybody and his cat just has to have its own version of scraping every last character from the innterTubes. Today (dead trees division) the NYT gives us some numbers to flesh out the issue.

Who should pay for both the additional generating plants and wires to send it hither and yon? The data center crowd sure don't want to.

[R]ecent reports expect data centers will require expensive upgrades to the electric grid, a cost that will be shared with residents and smaller businesses through higher rates unless state regulators and lawmakers force tech companies to cover those expenses.

Ya think they will? Read on.

"Unless people lean on the public utilities commissions, the ratepayers will take it on the chin," said Mark Cooper, an economic analyst at the Institute for Energy and the Environment at the Vermont Law and Graduate School.

Buckle up, buttercup.

Last month, after spending months weighing the proposals, the [Ohio Public Utilities] commission ruled 5 to 0 against the tech companies.

"Today's order represents a well-balanced package that safeguards non-data-center customers," Jenifer French, the chair of the commission, said in a statement after the ruling.

Last Friday, the tech companies asked the commission to reconsider the case, calling the ruling "unlawful and unreasonable."

Again, with gusto: if AI (as currently implemented) is the Killer App the way 1-2-3 was, then sucking up absurd amounts of wee little electrons is on your dime.

The utility in Ohio has already committed to supplying electricity for 30 data centers in the region by 2030, reaching power consumption levels in the Columbus area as high as Manhattan's. But the tech industry is making additional requests to power 90 more data centers, which could make consumption comparable to the entire state of New York during a peak summer day.
[my emphasis]

My, my. I guess that would mean that Ohio will turn True Blue, just like NYC? I mean, after all...