Data centers raise household electric bills by only 4% on average

A Wharton and Harvard Business School study found that new data centers built between 2020 and 2025 accounted for just 4% of the total rise in residential electricity bills on average. In some cases, such as North Dakota, added demand even lowered rates, though bills could rise by roughly $10 a month once grid spare capacity runs out.

• Data centers explain about 4% of residential bill growth from 2020 to 2025
• In North Dakota, added demand lowered rates in 2019–2024 by spreading costs
• ESIG worst case: a 1.32 cents per kWh rise, roughly $10 more a month
• Fossil-fuel generation could add $29.7 billion a year to bills by 2030