Anthropic says it’ll try to keep its data centers from raising electricity costs

Anthropic is the latest AI company promising to limit the impact its data centers have on nearby residents’ electricity bills.

The company said it would pay higher monthly electricity charges in order to cover 100 percent of the upgrades needed to connect its data centers to power grids. “This includes the shares of these costs that would otherwise be passed onto consumers,” the announcement says.

Anthropic didn’t provide details today about any agreements it has inked with energy companies in order to accomplish these goals. In November, it shared a $50 billion plan to build data centers in New York and Texas “with more sites to come.”

Rising electricity rates have become a top election priority in the US, and local opposition to the construction of new energy-intensive data centers has led to projects across the country being canceled or delayed. Now we’re seeing companies including Microsoft and Meta making commitments to at least partially cover the costs stemming from new energy infrastructure built to accommodate their data centers.

As part of its pledge, Anthropic says it’ll support efforts to get new power sources online to meet growing electricity demand from AI. It also claims it’ll be willing to cut its power consumption during demand peaks, a step that could help relieve pressure on power grids during a heatwave or cold snap. Recent winter storms have already raised concerns about how data centers might further stress power grids and increase energy costs during extreme weather.