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Data Centers Use Lots of Electricity. This Bill Would Let Them Go Off the Grid.
Joe Lancaster | 1.12.2026 11:20 AM
Tech companies are building data centers as quickly as possible to run AI. These facilities are controviersial because they use copious amounts of electricity and might tax an electrical grid that in some areas is already straining.
In a bill introduced last week, Sen. Tom Cotton (R–Ark.) proposed an idea: letting these companies get off the grid altogether.
"Power officials have been raising concerns that the grid isn't equipped to handle the sheer number of data centers tech companies are seeking to build," Katherine Blunt wrote last week at The Wall Street Journal. "They say it will take many years to build new transmission lines and power plants needed to support the surge in demand while keeping the lights on for other customers." Some officials, Blunt noted, "have proposed either requiring or encouraging data centers to stop using [the grid] when there is a risk of blackouts, either by powering down or switching to backup electricity supplies."
Jowi Morales of Tom's Hardware © Reason.com
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