The article “Energy demand from data centers growing faster than West can supply, experts say” (Oregon Capital Chronicle, Aug. 26) details growth of these facilities in the Northwest. The law of supply and demand will lead to more rapid price increases for homeowners because utilities already have to buy power on the open market during periods of high demand. Residential customers need some form of protection from price increases driven by this increased demand.
We should evaluate the benefits of these data centers relative to their resource consumption. Bitcoin mining — who benefits besides the investors? AI may have real benefits but it is being used to generate lies and fake information to create confusion in society and politics. Offsite storage of corporate data is a valuable service but most photos and such saved in the “cloud” by individuals are never even looked at after saving.
My home is heated by heat pump. Should we tolerate corporations driving up demand and prices for our electricity for dubious purposes? At least they should pay a premium.
