Protesters in North Carolina Rally Against Data Center-Driven Electricity Price Hikes

As a dominatrix drag queen struts through a crowd with her eyes set on tackling corporate greed, she uses brute force to throw aside actors portraying the tech giants locals blame for rising power prices.

It's an unusual display of theatrics, aimed at firing up fed-up residents of North Carolina, on the east coast of the United States, who say data centres are driving up their power bills, before they are even built.

On the front steps of a Durham courthouse in June, hundreds of community members lined up to voice their concerns about a proposed 18 per cent rise in their electricity bills, which they blamed on new infrastructure needed for data centres.

A chorus, led by local activists The Raging Grannies, led the group in song.

It is a show of support against what the protesters say is corporate greed.

But when it comes to data centres in the US, it is not just the environment and human health locals were concerned about.

The opposition to data centres at the rally was also ideological, with protesters against the storing of surveillance material, and artificial intelligence taking jobs.

They are all arguments about an industry which has grown from about 3,000 data centres in 2021 to about 4,000 in 2026, according to the World Resources Institute.

Noise, diesel concerns

The Drag Down Our Electric Bills Rally attracted hundreds of peaceful protesters, who said big tech was responsible for their growing bills.

Duke Energy, the privately owned power company that generates and supplies electricity to consumers, applied to the North Carolina utilities commissioner to increase prices by 18 per cent.

Prior to a repeal of tax incentives in July, data centre companies in North Carolina paid no tax on their electricity usage as a drawcard to attract investment.

It is now home to about 90 data centres and successfully brought companies Apple, Meta and Google south of Virginia, the data centre capital.

The actual power price rises for North Carolina are still under negotiation and are yet to be signed off by the utilities commission.

Local science teacher Carl Hintz was part of the protest.

"This electric company is making the argument they need to produce even more electricity to be able to power these data centres," he said.

"Even though these data centres haven't been built yet, it's already impacting people with higher electricity bills because of the anticipation that it might be built."

Lynne Taylor lives two hours away in Charlotte, where there are about 35 data centres, according to the international Data Center Map.

She said she was concerned about regional data centres taking up agricultural land alongside noise, health and environmental impacts.

She was also opposed to AI replacing jobs.

"What we have learned in America is that [you're] more likely to get kicked by a kangaroo than see any real economic gain for citizens," Mrs Taylor said.

"The developers of data centres promise many jobs for humans, but frankly, the majority of jobs are not being fulfilled."

A new frontier

As Australia straps in to connect more data centres to the electricity grid and water supplies, residents and academics in the United States are warning governments should take heed of what they have learned.

According to the Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO), there are 165 data centres operating across the country, with another 225 in development.

By 2036, AEMO says data centres will account for 13 per cent of the country's power usage.

Advocates say it is Australia's chance to get in front and take advantage of companies needing quick turnaround times and the money they have to spend.

Eric Masanet is a professor at the University of California in Santa Barbara, specialising in emerging technologies.

He said the Australian government could draw on America's experience to legislate to ensure companies were transparent about what they are doing, how they are operating and the resources they are using.

"One challenge we faced in the US is that data centre builds are being announced every week, they're huge, but they're behind a veil of secrecy," Professor Masanet said.

He said the lack of transparency fuelled community pushback.

"They don't know how much water, how much air pollution will be associated with that data centre down the street because the companies won't share the data," Professor Masanet said.

"It's often hidden behind a non-disclosure agreement and if local officials are aware, they've entered into these NDAs where they're not sharing with the public."

Professor Masanet's laboratory tracks emerging US policies relating to data centres.

He said some states were tough with bans or moratoriums and others, like Texas, were incentivising them without guardrails, but there was little middle ground.

He believes Australia could take heed and be tough, while making the most of investment in renewable energy projects.

The federal government is already introducing rules requiring data centres to fund new renewable energy to offset their usage, with exemptions for Queensland and the Northern Territory to use fossil fuels.

In construction, data centres could bring hundreds of jobs.

But to run them, only a handful of people are needed, depending on the size.

Boom potential

Simon Currie, founder of energy strategy company Energy Estate, said Australia should take advantage of the eagerness of developers to build data centres.

"How do we leverage this to deliver on all of the other things that we need to build out the economy for the next 50 to 100 years?" Mr Currie said.

He said they needed to be built in the right spot, near a reliable electricity supply.

Mr Currie believes data centres could pay for a portion of Victoria's renewable energy transition.

"They want the power, we want offshore wind," he said, referring to Victoria's plan to develop an offshore wind industry.

"How about we twin things together?"

He said concerns about noise and resource use could be addressed by requiring the companies to invest in the best technology, which he said could be the difference between noisy, resource-guzzling data centres and those that go unnoticed.

Mr Currie believes co-locating data centres with industries that need the heat they produce could result in an uptick in manufacturing and jobs.

"We've got food insecurity and we're losing food manufacturers because they were used to cheap gas," he said.

"How do we use industries like data centres to lever in and support other industries?"

Newsgathering for this story occurred as part of a study tour funded through a Rural Press Club of Victoria scholarship.