By Shanelle Kaul
April 25, 2026 / 8:01 PM EDT / CBS News
Atlanta — It is a sunny afternoon in Atlanta, but inside Carolyn Kayne’s 3,000-square-foot home, it is cold. “I’m walking around in a ski suit trying to stay warm in the winter,” Kayne told CBS News. Her electric bills have almost doubled in two years. She has turned off heat and water and now lives in a small apartment in the back of her house.
Patty Durand, founder of the nonprofit Georgians for Affordable Energy, said Kayne’s experience is not unique. “The average bill for an average customer used to be about $150 a month,” Durand said. “The average bill now is $225.”
A CBS News analysis found Georgia Power, the state’s largest utility, imposed six rate hikes in the past three years — a period during which the Vogtle nuclear plant began operating and Georgia saw a boom in data centers. Durand said many data centers located in Georgia sought discounted power.
The growing use of artificial intelligence has spurred demand for data centers. Across the U.S., new data centers are driving up utility bills in at least 13 states, according to the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis. A 2025 Bloomberg analysis found Americans living near data centers are paying as much as 267% more per month for energy than five years ago.
Maine Gov. Janet Mills recently vetoed a bill that would have made Maine the first state to ban construction of new data centers. Mills said the state needs to “examine and plan for the potential impacts of large-scale data centers” as AI use expands.
Durand warned that without stronger protections, “Data centers will add billions of dollars to costs to electricity rates in Georgia.” Georgia Power announced a rate freeze within the last year and said it would use revenue from large customers — including data centers — to lower costs for residential customers. The utility denies that it is passing the costs of data centers onto others. “There is no risk that residential customers will end up paying for the costs of this large growth, including data centers,” Aaron Mitchell, senior vice president for strategic growth at Georgia Power, said.
For residents like Kayne, who are already taking extreme measures to cut bills, those assurances may offer little relief. “I guess maybe it is time, you know, to give up my home,” Kayne said.