Everything You Need To Know About AI Data Centers: Part 1
Below you’ll find part one of an 11-part series here on Substack that delves into select portions of our AI Data Center Ecology Report. The full report includes 22 info-packed sections across more than 250 pages. We understand this is a lot of information to take in on a massive and growing topic. That’s why we’ve created this series—to help you know exactly where to focus your time and to make it even easier to share with your family, friends, and community. Once a week for the next 11 weeks, you’ll see a new post in this groundbreaking series.
It’s nothing new to see governments and big tech using doublespeak when it comes to major projects, resource consumption, or the flow of public money.
But something on this scale—happening in our own lifetime? It sounds almost impossible to believe.
Yet here we are. Electricity prices are soaring. AI data centers are metastasizing across our landscapes, consuming our electricity and drinking water while bringing more noise and electromagnetic (EMF) pollution. And in the end, we pay the price—with our health, our environment, and yes, our money.
So, how did this happen?
In March 2026, major tech companies and the U.S. government aligned around a plan to accelerate the expansion of AI data centers. Initiated by President Trump, the voluntary pledge was signed by Amazon, Google, Meta, Microsoft, Oracle, and xAI.
Under the pledge, the companies committed to building or purchasing new power generation, paying for infrastructure upgrades, investing in local jobs, and even making their own power available during times of grid shortages.
Okay, you might say that’s just how these kinds of deals work.
The Money Behind the Expansion
On the very same day the pledge was signed, Trump confirmed his intention to restore 100% bonus depreciation through the One Big Beautiful Bill Act. And that’s where the real issue begins.
There is nothing “beautiful” about this Act. The restored bonus depreciation allows AI data centers and other industries to write off the full cost of machinery and equipment against their taxes, retroactive to January 2025.
According to Senator Elizabeth Warren’s office, tech companies deducted $152 billion from their taxes in 2022—the last year 100% bonus depreciation was in effect.
The Joint Committee on Taxation estimates that corporations could save around $178 billion in taxes in 2026 alone. Meanwhile, consumers living near data centers are already experiencing the consequences, with wholesale electricity prices rising by as much as 267%, according to Bloomberg.
A 2025 study by Open Energy Outlook estimates that growing demand from data centers could increase electricity costs nationwide by 8% by 2030, with those costs ultimately passed on to consumers.
Our estimates are even more concerning. Based on the data in our Report, if the U.S. brings all planned data centers online by 2030, AI-related power demand could quadruple—from roughly 50 GW to 200 GW. That would equal approximately 40% of the current U.S. power supply.
The reality is that even if data centers build or purchase their own power generation, electricity prices are still likely to rise. Bonus depreciation encourages rapid expansion, and there is simply no practical way to shield ratepayers from demand on this scale.
Who Pays the Price?
While these pledges are being made behind closed doors, decisions are being made about our resources. Major tax benefits are being handed to big tech, and we’re the ones expected to bear the costs. Those costs aren’t just financial. They affect our water, our standard of living, our health, and our future.
Data centers are one of the biggest reasons your electricity bill is rising—or could soon rise. They can also contribute to increased water pollution, declining property values, higher noise and electromagnetic (EMF) pollution, and rising temperatures.
Now that you know how it all started, you may want to know where it’s going: where data centers are being built, their impact on the environment and our health, the numbers behind the expansion, and the biggest players involved. You’ll find all of that—and more—in our report.
And if you feel inspired to take action, one place to start is by reducing your own dependence on big tech apps and devices (more about that in Chapter 18 of the Report).
Please share the report with your friends and on social media so more people become aware of what’s happening.
Want to continue reading? Explore the rest of our Report, here on Substack.