Hacker News
Electricity Pricing in the Age of AI
26 points by rzk
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5 comments
nh23423fefe
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> Data centers already account for ~5% of US power consumption[1]. With data center power demand doubling every two years[2], demand would in theory outpace total US power generation by the mid-2030s.
HELP my baby is on pace to be larger than the whole planet??? How will I feed him?
nemomarx
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> Building a data center requires thoughtful planning around permitting, surrounding infrastructure, and anticipated power prices. In many cases, the variable cost of power determines whether or not a data center is viable at all.
I guess if just running a hundred gas generators is thoughtful, sure. I think a lot of these new builds are pretty rushed though.
rickydroll
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It is past time to bring all the externalities produced by data centers back onto the data center budget itself. For example, the tariff for data center electricity should be high enough to eliminate the impact of increased electricity costs on everybody else. Also, if they're going to do on-prem power plants, they should be built and maintained by the local power utility, and the electricity from those on-prem data power plants should again be tariffed at the same level as the general grid.
The same thing should be for water as well. It should produce potable water pumped back through a sewage treatment plant owned by the local water utility, and the cost of fresh water for data centers should be high enough that the cost of all this new infrastructure is fully borne by the data center.
I'm sure some people complained that it will make data centers uneconomical, to which I reply: I should not make up your revenue shortfall. Either your revenue supports all your costs, or you go out of business.