Jul 14, 2026
Protests aren’t going to stop electricity prices rising, warns Calvin Butler, CEO of Exelon — one of the biggest utility companies in the United States.
Butler spoke to the Financial Times about the pushback against AI data centers. He said utilities have become a “scapegoat” for frustrated politicians and citizens as data centers drive up electricity costs for everyone.
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Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro accused Exelon subsidiary PECO of “pure greed” in its proposal to raise electric and gas bills by an average of $35 a month in 2027. The price of electricity is already up 13% in the state.
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PECO backed down, but Butler said it will only push the pain down the road.
In the meantime, he warns, there’s a growing danger of blackouts.
“We came very close, this past winter, to having to curtail power for about 400,000 customers on some of the coldest days of the year,” he told the Financial Times. “And it’s only getting worse.”
But Mark Wolfe, executive director of the National Energy Assistance Directors Association (NEADA), doesn’t accept that consumers should be on the hook for the costs of AI or the risk of blackouts.
Here’s how electrical prices and the danger of blackouts are connected and what consumers can do about it.
AI data centers strain aging grids to capacity
There’s no question that AI data centers are at the root of soaring electrical bills, as they use a lot of energy, with demand outstripping supply.
According to the International Energy Agency (IEA), an AI data center devours as much electricity as 100,000 households annually. Yet as Wolfe notes, such centers are charged traditional utility rates — like for a car plant.
“The problem with data centers is that the rate structure they’re working under is antiquated,” he told Moneywise.
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It’s not just the rate structure that’s antiquated. It’s the power grids themselves. That’s why Exelon’s CEO is warning about possible blackouts, citing a lack of capacity — like power plants — to serve growing demand.
According to Utility Dive, Exelon plans to spend up to $17 billion on new transmission lines in the next decade (on top of $41.3 billion in capital expenses in the next four years). Butler said this is part of the reason electrical rates have to go up for everyone.
“I cannot run a world-class system without investing in the system,” Butler told the Financial Times. “I can’t do that and not come in for a rate case. That is not good math, it is not good business and it doesn’t work.”
Wolfe disagrees.“The additional costs associated with serving large new data centers should be borne by the data centers that create those costs, not by everyday residential consumers,” he told Moneywise.
He noted that utilities like Exelon are regulated and have an obligation to provide safe and reliable electric service, meaning no blackouts “because utilities failed to adequately plan for predictable growth in demand.”
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What to do about rising electric bills
Wolfe acknowledges that it can be tough to take on data centers and utilities, as much as some states and communities are trying.
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He says the best way to reduce your electricity bills is by reducing consumption. The clean energy company Nexamp has tips on how to do that.
Give your thermostat a break. Heating and cooling represent over 50% of an electricity bill. If you’re away in the summer, set your thermostat 7 to 10 degrees higher (or conversely, 7 to 10 degrees lower in the winter). According to Wolfe, every 1 degree saves an average 3% on your electric bill. Make sure your home is well insulated.
Replace older HVAC systems and appliances. Swap out old appliances that run nonstop — like fridges and water heaters — with newer ones. Older refrigerators may use up to 35% more energy than ENERGY STAR fridges.
Plug TVs, game consoles and other electronics into power bars. That way you can turn them off when they’re not in use so they stop using energy.
Swap out incandescent bulbs with LEDs. LEDs use 75% less energy than incandescents.
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Laura Boast is an Associate Editor with Moneywise.com and a lifelong content creator who has reached international audiences at Discovery, CBC, Blue Ant Media, Bond Brand Loyalty and more.
