[twoodfin]

I am not an expert in electricity generation or transmission, but it does seem strange that this “data center scare” is happening coincidental with (other?) big jumps in home electricity rates that have nothing to do with data centers.

For example, Massachusetts rates are way up because New England politicians have spent more than a decade fighting natural gas infrastructure, especially pipelines that would bring cheap North American gas vs. LNG that is in short supply post-Russia/Ukraine war.

At the same time, MA politicians created the “Mass Save” program that’s effectively a giant boondoggle where utility ratepayers are subsidizing fly-by-night “energy efficiency” contractors who have no incentive to be efficient at all.

[trashface]

There is a big push in PA too. Our governor Josh Shapiro seems more pro-datacenter than not. (Note he is a potential 2028 presidential hopeful who, full disclosure, I voted for and don't regret doing that since the alternative was a total nut job IMHO).

Meanwhile everybody's electric rates are spiking, some dramatically so. There isn't much new power generation being built here. Amazon is taking over an old US steel plan that had a dedicated gas generator, and MS supposedly has invested in restarting TMI's non-melted down reactor - i'll be amazed it that ever produces a drop of power though I'm sure billions will be spent on it.

[potato3732842]

>At the same time, MA politicians created the “Mass Save” program that’s effectively a giant boondoggle where utility ratepayers are subsidizing fly-by-night “energy efficiency” contractors who have no incentive to be efficient at all.

Who were they trying to pander to by doing that? Who's votes did the politicians expect to reap?

I feel like the goddamn goose in the meme.

They did that stuff because well off white collar jerks with no problems thought it sounded good. And now, as usual, the rest of society has to pay for it.

[nine_zeros]

> For example, Massachusetts rates are way up because New England politicians have spent more than a decade fighting natural gas infrastructure, especially pipelines that would bring cheap North American gas vs. LNG that is in short supply post-Russia/Ukraine war.

This problem is unrelated to datacenters. The datacenter boom has created demand in markets outside New England, which is seeping into New England. It only got compounded by lack of natural gas.

> At the same time, MA politicians created the “Mass Save” program that’s effectively a giant boondoggle where utility ratepayers are subsidizing fly-by-night “energy efficiency” contractors who have no incentive to be efficient at all.

Mass save is actually a great program. Mass houses are old, creaky, and lacking insulation. Mass save let these things be upgraded at a lower price burden to the masses. If you are talking about heat pumps, heat pumps can have backup furnaces - you could use natural gas if you wanted. The idea behind a heat pump was to have it work with solar, wind, and other low cost energy sources.

Then trump came in and shot all these other sources at gunpoint. And you are seeing it in your bills.