Utility Bill Impacts

Data centers use a lot of electricity, and they bring huge new demand to the grid. A proposed data center in Joliet, for example, would use 1.8 gigawatts of electricity, enough to power every home in Chicago. Data centers’ massive energy use creates two problems: 

1. Grid operators need to purchase more electricity capacity to keep up with that rising demand. Electricity is purchased by grid operators on a market. Demand for electricity has increased significantly, but supply has not, which creates much higher prices for electricity. Unfortunately, that cost is passed on to all utility customers and everyday Illinoisans end up paying higher rates to purchase that extra capacity for data centers.  
2. Bringing data centers onto the grid requires building new infrastructure. Utilities are passing this cost for new infrastructure onto their customers. Utilities requested more than $29 billion in rate increases in the first half of 2025 (EESI). This infrastructure is necessary to generate and transmit the electricity that data centers require, but we are forced to subsidize it.
   1. In 2025, 70% of PJM’s electricity cost increases came from data center demand. Around $9.3 billion worth of cost increases from data centers (CUB, Independent Market Monitor). 
   2. According to an analysis from the Union of Concerned Scientists, from 2026 to 2050, data center load growth will increase electricity system costs in Illinois by $24 billion to $37 billion, or 15 to 24 percent.