Data centers drove $8.25B of new US grid costs in 2025 and were billed $3.12B
Four US grids approved $34.0B of power lines for new demand in 2025. A study traced each line to the demand that needed it. Data centers caused 24% of the cost and are billed 9%. Homes caused 10% and are billed 48%.
Share of new power line costs, caused and billed
Share of each grid's 2025 cost that new demand from data centers and homes caused, and the share billed to them.
All four grids $34.0B
- Data centers24%9%
- Homes10%48%
PJM (Mid-Atlantic, Ohio, Chicago) $5.95B
- Data centers55%20%
- Homes1%54%
ERCOT (Texas) $17.9B
- Data centers17%8%
- Homes11%47%
MISO (Midwest) $7.41B
- Data centers20%4%
- Homes13%44%
CAISO (California) $2.76B
- Data centers18%6%
- Homes18%46%
| Grid | Data centers caused | Data centers billed |
|---|---|---|
| All four grids | $8.25B (24%) | $3.12B (9%) |
| PJM (Mid-Atlantic, Ohio, Chicago) | $3.26B (55%) | $1.22B (20%) |
| ERCOT (Texas) | $3.00B (17%) | $1.43B (8%) |
| MISO (Midwest) | $1.50B (20%) | $293M (4%) |
| CAISO (California) | $494M (18%) | $174M (6%) |
Costs caused and billed by grid and customer group, and by PJM utility zone, in US$ million, as a gzipped CSV.
Download CSV (gzip)PJM utilities, costs caused and billed
2025 cost of PJM's new power lines caused by new demand in each utility's area, and billed to it. 19 of 20 are billed more than they caused.
- Dominion (Virginia)$2.27B$2.38B
- PPL (PA)$563M$646M
- AEP (OH, WV, VA, IN and others)$401M$485M
- ComEd (Chicago)$239M$453M
- Allegheny Power (PA, WV, MD)$1.97B$428M
- FirstEnergy Ohio$233M$364M
- BGE (Baltimore)$59M$220M
- Pepco (DC, MD)$0M$189M
- PSE&G (NJ)$23M$129M
- Duke Energy Ohio and Kentucky$58M$112M
- Delmarva (DE, MD)$41M$100M
- Met-Ed (PA)$64M$95M
- PECO (Philadelphia)$1M$88M
- Jersey Central (NJ)$2M$67M
- AES Ohio (Dayton)$25M$60M
- East Kentucky Power$0M$39M
- Penelec (PA)$6M$36M
- Atlantic City Electric (NJ)$0M$28M
- Duquesne (Pittsburgh)$0M$28M
- Rockland Electric (NJ)$0M$4M
| Utility zone | Caused | Billed |
|---|---|---|
| Dominion (Virginia) | $2.27B | $2.38B |
| PPL (PA) | $563M | $646M |
| AEP (OH, WV, VA, IN and others) | $401M | $485M |
| ComEd (Chicago) | $239M | $453M |
| Allegheny Power (PA, WV, MD) | $1.97B | $428M |
| FirstEnergy Ohio | $233M | $364M |
| BGE (Baltimore) | $59M | $220M |
| Pepco (DC, MD) | $0M | $189M |
| PSE&G (NJ) | $23M | $129M |
| Duke Energy Ohio and Kentucky | $58M | $112M |
| Delmarva (DE, MD) | $41M | $100M |
| Met-Ed (PA) | $64M | $95M |
| PECO (Philadelphia) | $1M | $88M |
| Jersey Central (NJ) | $2M | $67M |
| AES Ohio (Dayton) | $25M | $60M |
| East Kentucky Power | $0M | $39M |
| Penelec (PA) | $6M | $36M |
| Atlantic City Electric (NJ) | $0M | $28M |
| Duquesne (Pittsburgh) | $0M | $28M |
| Rockland Electric (NJ) | $0M | $4M |
About the data
- From Feng and You, "Data centres asymmetrically exacerbate energy burdens through wholesale price increases and regressive grid cost shifting", Nature Energy, November 2026. The charts use the study's published source data.
- Costs are power line projects that PJM, ERCOT, MISO and CAISO approved in 2025 to serve new demand. Texas makes up $17.9B, most of it for industry and other new demand.
- Caused is the study's reading of each project's planning record. Billed is its estimate under each grid's cost-sharing rules. The data center share assumes they run at 80% of capacity.
- The $5.13B data centers aren't billed falls on every other customer, homes included.
- On PJM, $2.27B of costs came from Dominion's area in Virginia, nearly all from data centers. Pepco, which serves DC, caused $0M and is billed $189M.
- The study also finds data centers raised wholesale power prices about 15% in Dominion's area and 20% in the southern Bay Area by 2025.
- How home prices moved on PJM's grid: home power prices by state.