Data Center

Future Data Centers are Driving Up Forecasts for Energy; States Want Proof They'll Be Built

Because of the impact that future plants pose to current ratepayers, state regulators want proof that proposed data centers will actually get built.

Associated Press

Nov 16, 2025 — 4 min read

Photo of a stretch of land between the Conodoguinet Creek and Country Club Road near Carlisle, Pennsylvania, which is in the planning stages to become a $15 billion data center complex, on Friday Nov. 14, 2025, by Marc Levy/AP

HARRISBURG, Pa., Nov. 16, 2025 (AP) — The forecasts are eye-popping: utilities saying they'll need two or three times more electricity within a few years to power massive new data centers that are feeding a fast-growing AI economy.

But the challenges — some say the impossibility — of building new power plants to meet that demand so quickly has set off alarm bells for lawmakers, policymakers and regulators who wonder if those utility forecasts can be trusted.

One burning question is whether the forecasts are based on data center projects that may never get built — eliciting concern that regular ratepayers could be stuck with the bill to build unnecessary power plants and grid infrastructure at a cost of billions of dollars.

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Data Center AI AP Pennsylvania PJM Interconnection FERC David rosner Edison Electric Institute Data Center Coalition Google Meta Igal Feibush Pennsylvania Data Center partners Texas Electric Reliability Council of Texas Phil King PPL Electric Utilities Vincent Sorgi

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