As the engines of artificial intelligence, large data centers can consume as much power as medium-sized cities, straining grids and prompting expensive upgrades to U.S. energy infrastructure. New research finds that residents, and especially lower-income and rural residents, are disproportionately bearing the costs.

In the study, published Nov. 9 in Nature Energy, Cornell researchers analyzed growth in energy demand and infrastructure projects for four major U.S. power grids from 2020 to 2025 and found that data centers have hiked wholesale energy prices and on average paid only 38% of the infrastructure costs linked to their growth – $3.12 billion of an $8.25 billion bill in 2025. The remaining $5.13 billion, or 62%, fell largely on residents, with the lowest income households seeing extra energy costs up to 28% of their incomes.