12 Days of Broadband

Data Centers Dramatically Drive Up Energy Needs

AI exposed the limits of the U.S. grid, and nuclear power became Washington’s answer.

Jericho Casper

Dec 9, 2025 — 7 min read

For years, Americans imagined the virtual cloud as abstract – floating somewhere beyond the limits of physical infrastructure.

12 Days of Broadband 2025 (click to open)

On the First Day of Broadband, my true love sent to me: One Carr driving the Federal Communications Commission.
On the Second Day of Broadband, my true love sent to me: Two superpowers racing toward AI superintelligence dominance.
On the Third Day of Broadband, my true love sent to me: Three branches of government (and some formerly independent agencies).
On the Fourth Day of Broadband, my true love sent to me: Four programs with Universal Service Funds.
On the Fifth Day of Broadband, my true love sent to me: 56 states and territories without digital equity grants.
On the Sixth Day of Broadband, my true level sent to me: Less than 6 months for a broadband permit.
On the Seventh Day of Broadband, my true love sent to me: Data center-powered electricity bills up 70 percent.
On the Eighth Day of Broadband, my true love sent to me: 800 megahertz of spectrum to sell at auction.
On the Ninth Day of Broadband, my true love sent to me: $9 billion + 12 billion (or $21 billion) in BEAD remaining funds.
On the Tenth Day of Broadband, my true love sent to me: Not even $10/month for an affordable connectivity program.
On the Eleventh Day of Broadband, my true love sent to me: Through BEAD and broadband, 110 million locations served.
On the Twelfth Day of Broadband, my true love sent to me: More than 1200 megahertz of spectrum for unlicensed wireless.

**Click to read each of the 12 Days of Broadband articles!**

In 2025, the demand for artificial intelligence stripped away that illusion, exposing the hard physical limits of a digital economy built on enormous quantities of power and land. There’s some evidence that data centers could make your electric bill go up by 70 percent.

The biggest tech companies broke ground on some of the largest industrial data center facilities ever constructed. Triggering states to enact emergency energy laws to keep pace with data-center load. Utilities asked for unprecedented spending increases to meet demand. And, communities began to question whether the benefits of hyperscale development justified the costs.

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12 Days of Broadband Fatih Birol Dan Davis Donald Trump Jarrod Agen Carol Lane Paul Brownell Carlos Lei DoE National Energy Dominance Council Amazon Meta Microsoft Google DE-CIX Equinix X-Energy Constellation Energy Data Center Infrastructure