Driven by the artificial intelligence (AI) and crypto frenzy, data centers are now sweeping the country. In the process, they’re pushing our electricity prices higher, driving fossil fuel expansion, and threatening our water supplies. And yet, our leaders are advancing deregulation to speed up the buildout, leaving people and the environment unprotected.

We need strong guardrails to stop this technology from abusing our wallets, our health, our economy, and our planet. Instead, elected officials on both sides of the aisle are rolling out the red carpets for these facilities, including with lucrative tax breaks. 

Meanwhile, Big Tech is pouring billions into this buildout. This is spurring “a construction boom unlike any in living memory.” And it’s quickly becoming one of the biggest environmental and social challenges of our generation. 

But the path forward is not inevitable. We can and must hit the brakes. Until our leaders get strong guardrails in place — No more new data centers. Period. 

Data Centers Are Driving Up Our Energy Bills

Data centers are massive warehouses packed with superpowered computers. They’re the physical infrastructure behind the internet, and are growing at an unprecedented pace due to AI chatbots, image and video generators, and more. 

With so many superpowered computers comes a voracious demand for energy. Given the current rate of expansion, we found that by 2028, artificial intelligence data centers could require as much electricity as 28 million households every year. That’s enough to power all the households in the state of California twice over. 

This rapid spike in demand is already driving up our energy bills. More demand means more infrastructure, like power lines and power plants. The costs of that infrastructure are shared across all customers, even if it only serves electricity to data centers. 

An analysis of the PJM grid (which serves electricity to 13 states) found that families are paying $4.3 billion for new infrastructure approved in 2024 just to power data centers. Across the country, Bloomberg found that in areas near significant data center activity, electricity rates have jumped as much as 267% compared to just five years ago. 

Data Centers Throw Gasoline on the Climate Crisis

All this electricity has to come from somewhere. And even though renewables like solar and wind are the fastest, cheapest way to get new electricity on the grid, tech companies are doubling down on dirty energy. Right now, more than half of the electricity used to power data centers comes from fossil fuels. 

Data centers are building new gas infrastructure and clinging to dirty coal. They’re even collaborating with the nuclear industry. Big Oil has happily hopped on board, greenwashing their plans to power data centers with promises of carbon capture (which we know is a massive climate scam).

Trump is adding fuel to the fire with policies that favor fossil fuels for Big Tech’s boom. He’s keeping dying coal power plants on life support to power data centers. At this critical moment of the fossil-fueled climate crisis, a spike in fossil energy use is beyond dangerous.

Data Centers Strain Precious Water Supplies

Because data centers run so hot, they consume massive amounts of water to keep cool, in addition to the water used in power generation to run them. 

This isn’t just any water — it’s often the freshwater sources we depend on for drinking. As of 2023, nearly 80% of the water consumption of Google’s U.S. AI data centers came from drinking water sources. By 2028, data centers may require as much water as 18.5 million households, just for cooling. 

Despite the high water needs, companies are building these facilities in already water-stressed areas. Communities are seeing their groundwater depleted after data centers set up shop.

And while cooling is a major driver of data center water consumption, it’s only one narrow slice of the pie. Electricity generation makes up nearly 75% of data centers’ overall water needs, as so many rely on thirsty fossil-fueled power. 

Current Policies Give Free Rein to Big Tech’s Abuses 

The same Silicon Valley billionaires who have enabled the rise of Trump are now cashing in. Trump has announced his administration’s nearly limitless support for rolling out an unregulated new industry with far-reaching effects.

This is just one facet of a broader policy framework that allows Big Tech, the ultra-wealthy, and the president’s allies to enrich themselves from polluting technologies. While AI expands, so does cryptocurrency — another energy-intensive technology that has now become the main driver of the Trump family’s wealth.

Besides the dangers to the cost of living, our water, and our climate, the totally unregulated AI rollout is already sowing turmoil in our economy and politics.

Whether it’s wiping out jobs or fracturing social trust with deepfake videos, Big Tech’s big bet threatens societal upheaval. Yet, rather than minimize these harms, our leaders are throwing the doors open even wider.

Trump is not alone. Democratic leaders like Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro are also passing policies that invite Big Tech to steamroll over our lives and our environment.

Stop the Data Center Buildout Now!

While data centers are an important part of the internet, which has become integral to daily life, the completely unregulated expansion of AI-driven data centers is causing tremendous harm. 

This rapid and unregulated expansion must not be allowed to continue until we have a regulatory framework that protects people and the environment. And any benefits AI provides should flow to everyday people — not just the country’s richest and most powerful.

Data center boosters want us to believe this massive buildout is inevitable and in the country’s best interest. Their rhetoric paves the way for them to inundate our world with AI and remake it in their image — while amassing unimaginable wealth along the way. But the future is far from guaranteed — especially when we come together to take action. 

We can’t let Big Tech run roughshod over our lives, our economy, our health, or our environment. Until we have a regulatory framework guiding a just, equitable, and sustainable data center rollout, we need to press pause. We need to stop new data centers, now.