Data centers are spreading across the country and contributing to rising electricity bills. It’s becoming a political issue as lawmakers are still workshopping their response. Leaders in both parties are locked in competition to encourage tech giants to put sprawling data centers in their states, looking for an economic leg up and an innovation edge in the early days of the artificial intelligence boom. Now, those same leaders are dealing with a downside that’s more apparent

Google recently courted the township of Franklin, Ind., so that it could construct a giant campus to house the computer hardware that powers its internet business. But the company needed to rezone more than 450 acres in the Indianapolis suburb, and residents weren't having it. Many were concerned the facility would consume huge amounts of water and electricity while delivering few local benefits. When a lawyer representing Google confirmed at a September public meeting that t

GAINESVILLE, Va. — On Friday night, dueling candidates for a board of supervisors seat in this suburban county found a cause that united them: banning new data centers. “I think we should, personally, block all future data centers,” said Patrick Harders, the Republican running for an open seat on the Prince William County board. George Stewart, his Democratic opponent, agreed that “the crushing and overwhelming weight of data centers” was a crisis, with massive companies “hav

Virginians could pay upwards of $1,100 more on energy bills each year by 2040, according to a new report from the Center for Energy & Environmental Analysis. Researchers from the center, a nonpartisan think tank based in Virginia, used public energy forecasts and data to calculate the costs. According to the report, electric and gas bills for a typical Virginia household could go up by $1,115 annually above inflation within the next 15 years. Researchers said the spike can be

Among cemeteries, baseball fields and homes, these Northern Virginia buildings power the internet. As artificial intelligence usage...