Tag Archives for Consumer Reports

AI Data Centers Spark Utility-Cost Concerns for Older Rate Payers

Published in RINewsToday on May 25, 2026

The Industrial Revolution began at Slater Mill in Pawtucket and transformed the economy through machine-powered manufacturing. Now, 260 years later, the rise of artificial intelligence (AI) is changing the economy again as computers take on more jobs and reshape industries.

Artificial Intelligence may feel distant from the daily lives of many older Rhode Islanders, but the electric bills needed to power it could become personal. As AI data centers expand across the country, consumer advocates and lawmakers are asking whether residential rate payers — including seniors on fixed incomes — could end up subsidizing the energy infrastructure needed by some of the world’s largest technology companies.

For older adults living on Social Security, pensions, or other fixed incomes, even modest increases in electric bills can mean tradeoffs with food, medication, transportation, or home maintenance.

AI data centers have servers and special computer hardware that run AI systems. Thousands of advanced chips quickly process data to train and run AI models for tasks such as analytics, image generation, and chatbots. Large data centers consume significant amounts of electricity and require advanced cooling systems. This has led to concerns about higher electricity bills, increased water use, and environmental impacts.

The rapid growth of AI has accelerated investment by major technology companies, including Amazon, Google, Meta, and Microsoft. By March 2026, Consumer Reports noted that there were 3,069 data centers across the country, with 1,489 more planned or under construction. Rhode Island has seven data centers.

Some researchers say that AI is driving up electricity demand. A report from Bloom Energy in January 2026 predicts that U.S. data centers will use between 80 and 150 gigawatts of energy, almost doubling from 2025 to 2028.

Opposition Builds Against AI Data Center Projects

Gallup Poll’s first survey on data center construction, released on May 13, 2026, found that many Americans are worried about AI data centers being built in their communities. People are concerned about the use of large areas of land and the possible environmental, economic, and social effects. Seven out of ten people surveyed are against these projects in their area, and almost half (48%) are strongly opposed. Only about a quarter support the centers, and just 7% are strongly in favor, notes Jeffrey M. Jones, the author of the Gallup Poll report.

About one in five people who oppose data centers worry about how they might affect daily life. Their concerns include increased noise, air and water pollution, heavier traffic, and the desire to use the land for something else. Some also mention higher utility bills, rising living costs, and the possible need for subsidies.

“Most of the remaining opposition stems from general or specific concerns about Artificial Intelligence,” notes Jones.

Even though many people have concerns, the survey shows that supporters of AI data centers view the situation differently. Most supporters point to potential economic benefits, such as new jobs, increased tax revenue, and improved infrastructure as the main positives.

When it comes to politics, the Gallup poll found that most people—whether Republican, Democrat, or Independent—do not want a data center built near their homes. The survey notes that Democrats are more likely than Republicans to be strongly opposed (56% compared to 39%), with independents in the middle at 48%.

Older Ratepayers Push Back Against Higher Utility Rates

As AI data centers grow rapidly, AARP in Washington, DC, is monitoring rising power demand and the associated costs. Approximately 40 states have considered legislative or regulatory action related to the impact of large data centers on utility costs, grid reliability, or water use.

AARP’s 2025 report, ‘Powering AI, Draining Wallets: Consumers Could Be at Risk for Steep Electric Bills,’ was conducted by the National Opinion Research Center (NORC) at the University of Chicago and sampled U.S. households aged 50+. Survey results show that 69% of people aged 50 and over have seen their electric bills go up in the past year, and one in four say the increase is significant. 78% are worried about rising electricity costs, underscoring the financial stress many older adults feel.

75% of respondents call on state leaders to ensure that regular customers do not have to pay for the electricity used by new data centers. While 78% think data centers should cover their own utility costs rather than receive government assistance, just  3% believe ratepayers should pay.

Both Democrats (76%) and Republicans (74%) want state governments to protect customers from having to subsidize AI data centers.

In Oklahoma Older Residents Weigh In on AI Data Center Debate

Also, an AARP report, “Utility Affordability and Large Data Centers,” noted that older Oklahomans, especially those living on fixed incomes, are very worried about data centers and whether they can afford their bills

“Across the country, states are facing the same fundamental question: how to support rapid growth in energy demand without risking affordability for everyday consumers,” said Jenn Jones, Vice President of Financial Security and Livable Communities at AARP, in an April 28, 2026, statement announcing the release of the report.

The survey found that most Oklahomans (92%) think state leaders should make sure current residential customers do not have to pay for the costs of new data centers. Many (86%) also believe that data center companies should pay for the big electricity and infrastructure costs themselves.

Regulating Rhode Island’s Burgeoning Data Center Industry

Supporters of data center development argue that the facilities can bring construction jobs, permanent technical and security jobs, local tax revenue, and investment in electric-grid infrastructure. The central policy question is not whether data centers should exist, but who pays for the added power capacity they require — the companies that use it, or the broader pool of residential and business customers.

On Jan. 28, 2026, House Speaker Pro Tempore Brian Patrick Kennedy (D-Dist. 38, Hopkinton, Westerly) introduced H 7331 to implement state regulations on data centers being built in Rhode Island. The bill was referred to the House Corporations Committee. In the upper chamber, Sen. Louis P. DiPalma (D-Dist. 12, Middletown, Little Compton, Newport, Tiverton) later introduced the Senate companion measure, S 2776, on March 4, 2026, which was referred to the Senate Commerce Committee. Both legislative proposals have since been recommended for further study.

“Data centers have become controversial because they often require improvements to the electric infrastructure, with ratepayers footing the bill,” said Rep. Kennedy. “This, coupled with substantial environmental implications, requires a regulatory framework that can balance the economic benefits of data centers with our energy and environmental concerns,” he says.

Both legislative proposals require the Public Utilities Commission to ensure protections for ratepayers in Rhode Island by preventing data center operators from passing their electricity costs on to residential and other business customers. Data centers must pay their own way to protect ratepayers from subsidizing the large-scale private energy demands of these projects, and no costs related to the construction of electric infrastructure should be allocated to other customers.

It would also require each data center to submit an annual report to the RI Department of Environmental Management detailing daily water withdrawals, the cooling technologies used, and water recycling or reuse practices. It would allow the DEM director to require a data center to submit a water efficiency, conservation, or recycling plan as a condition of any permit issued. A final provision requires financial assurance that provides for site restoration in the event of abandonment or cessation of operations.

For older Rhode Islanders, the debate is likely to be less about artificial intelligence itself than about affordability. As data centers expand, lawmakers and regulators will face a basic question: how to support new technology and economic development without shifting private infrastructure costs onto households already struggling with rising utility bills.

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Congress is Close to Passing Prescription Drug Legislation

Published in Pawtucket Times on June 23, 2003

Within days of the July 4th congressional recess, the House and Senate continue their debates on enacting legislation to lower the cost of pharmaceuticals for the nation’s elderly.

The AARP will kick off a media blitz to get a point across to lawmakers that while they may take a short break during recess, the nation’s elderly don’t get a break when it comes to affording the costly medications they need.

“There’s no recess [for seniors] from high prescription drug costs,”  AARP declares in a press release sent to the nation’s media outlets.

In a written statement, Lt. Gov. Charles J. Fogarty, who chairs the state’s Long-Term Care Coordinating Council, calls on Rhode Island’s congressional delegation to pass meaningful Medicare drug benefits, rather than the legislative proposals being debated in the House and Senate chambers.

“While it is nice that after many years of promises Congress has finally taken on this issue these proposals will cause nothing but heartburn and headaches for seniors if passed,” said Fogarty, noting that many seniors will pay more for the program than they will get back in benefits. He charged that others will even be left without prescription drug coverage when they need it the most.

Under the Senate proposal, seniors would pay a $ 35 monthly premium and then have to meet a $275 deductible before Medicare starts to kick in to pay for half of the drugs costs.  Once senior’s reach a cost cap of $ 4,500 for the last year, they would then have to pick up the entire cost until they reach yet another cap of $ 5,800 in total drug spending. At this point, Medicare would then pay 90 percent of the covered drug costs.

Fogarty noted the Congressional Budget Office found that one-third of seniors would pay more money to enroll in the plan than they would actually get back in benefits.

That’s because a senior with $ 1,000 in annual drug costs would actually end up

$ 1,057 annual for the benefits ($420 in premiums, a $ 275 deductible and half of the drug costs).  A senior with $ 2,000 in drug costs would pay $ 1,557 out-of-pocket for the benefits.

Fogarty also called attention to the major gap in coverage for those whose costs exceed the $ 4,500 limit until they reach that $ 5,800 mark.

Furthermore, Fogarty, who authored the state’s expanded prescription drug program, said a study by Columbia University found that only those annual drug costs about $ 1,100 would benefit through the plan.  

In the House chamber, the Republican proposal also calls for monthly premiums of $ 35 along with a lower annual deductible of $ 250 with Medicaid paying 80 percent of the cost of drugs up to $ 2,000.

There is a gaping hole in coverage (in this legislative package).” Fogarty warned “Seniors would then have to spend at least another $ 1,500 depending on their income, on medications before coverage would again begin.”

According to Fogarty, Consumer Union, the publisher of the widely-read magazine, Consumer Reports, noted the “skimpy benefits [in the House and Senate proposal] and the historically high growth of prescription drug costs means that most who lack coverage today would wind up paying more for prescription drugs in four years than they do now.”

Will seniors see a prescription drug proposal enacted this year?

Probably, said Jason Ormsby, director of policy at the Washington, D.C.-based Allilance for Health Reform.

“There is a tremendous drive that I have not seen in the last there years [to enact a prescription drug bill],” said Ormsby.

He noted the House passed a legislative proposal to assist seniors in paying for costly pharmaceuticals, but it died in the Senate.

“The somewhat similar House and Senate bills will have a good change to pass by the July 4th recess,” Ormsby predicted.  Once passed, the legislative proposal will go to conference committee to iron out the differences between the 600-page House and 350-pshr Senate bills,” he said.

The prescription drug benefits are just a small portion of these massive legislative proposals, he noted.

Robert Greenwood, vice-president of public affairs for the National Pace Association, added: “Many Democrats see the limitation of these bills.  This legislation passed presents a historic opportunity to get this law on the book so it can be amended and improved in future years.”

While not a meaningful drug prescription proposal, it’s the first step in the right direction.

Once enacted into law, the Rhode Island congressional delegation must begin their efforts to improve the law – improve access for all: make out-of-pocket costs and cost sharing affordable; lessen gaps in coverage; more important, put the breaks to the steady increase in high-cost drugs.