In the fractured landscape of American politics, Senator Bernie Sanders and Governor Ron DeSantis agree on almost nothing. Their policy positions on healthcare, taxation, immigration, and social issues represent opposite poles of the ideological spectrum. Yet both have emerged in recent weeks as leading critics of the same target: the artificial intelligence industry's voracious appetite for electricity.

Their unlikely alignment signals something significant—a brewing political backlash against Big Tech's data center expansion that could reshape energy policy, infrastructure investment, and the trajectory of AI development in America.

The Power Crisis Nobody Saw Coming

The numbers are staggering. Global electricity consumption from data centers reached approximately 415 terawatt hours in 2024, representing about 1.5% of worldwide power demand. That figure has grown at 12% annually over the past five years, with no slowdown in sight.

The largest AI-focused data centers now consume more than a gigawatt of electricity each—enough to power a city of 750,000 people. Microsoft's planned hyperscale facilities will require multiple nuclear reactors worth of generation capacity. Meta recently announced plans for a 6.6-gigawatt power procurement program to support its AI ambitions.

"It's at a crisis stage right now. PJM has never been this short. We're looking at a full six gigawatts of reliability shortfall by 2027, and data centers are the primary driver."

— Joe Bowring, President of Monitoring Analytics, PJM grid watchdog

PJM Interconnection, the nation's largest grid operator serving over 65 million people across 13 states, has become ground zero for the data center power crisis. The organization projects it will fall six gigawatts short of reliability requirements by 2027—a deficit that hasn't been seen in the grid's history.

The Bill Comes Due

For consumers, the implications are becoming impossible to ignore. Residential electricity prices rose approximately 5% in 2025 and are forecast to increase another 4% in 2026, according to the federal Energy Information Administration. In data center hotspots like Northern Virginia, the impact is far more severe.

A study from Carnegie Mellon University estimates that data centers and cryptocurrency mining could drive an 8% increase in average U.S. electricity bills by 2030. In the highest-demand markets, that figure could exceed 25%.

The price mechanism is already at work. Power capacity prices in PJM have exploded, with $23 billion in increased costs attributable to data center demand, according to Monitoring Analytics. Those costs flow through to every household and business connected to the grid.

Sanders' Moratorium Call

Senator Sanders has taken the most aggressive stance, calling for a national moratorium on data center construction until the industry addresses its environmental and economic impacts.

"Frankly, I think you've got to slow this process down," Sanders said in a recent interview. "We're allowing a handful of corporations to consume a disproportionate share of our power grid while ordinary Americans struggle with rising utility bills. The profits go to billionaires in Silicon Valley while working families in Vermont pay more for electricity."

The Vermont independent has framed the issue as a question of economic justice, arguing that subsidizing data center expansion through higher electricity rates amounts to a regressive tax on low-income households.

DeSantis' Property Rights Frame

Governor DeSantis approaches the same issue from a different ideological angle but reaches similar conclusions. The Florida Republican has expressed concern about data centers' impact on local communities, property values, and the rights of residents who never consented to massive industrial facilities in their neighborhoods.

"These tech companies want to build billion-dollar facilities, consume massive amounts of power and water, and leave local communities dealing with the consequences," DeSantis noted. "When does the interest of Big Tech stop trumping the interests of Florida families?"

The framing resonates with conservative voters skeptical of corporate power and protective of local autonomy—themes that have animated Republican politics since the Tea Party era.

Big Tech's Legislative Counter-Offensive

The technology industry has not remained passive. Reports indicate that Big Tech lobbyists have successfully blocked state-level legislation that would have imposed stricter environmental and energy requirements on data center construction.

Industry representatives argue that data centers create jobs, attract investment, and power the AI technologies that will drive American competitiveness in the 21st century. Restricting their growth, they contend, would hand advantages to foreign competitors while doing little to address global energy challenges.

"The choice isn't between American data centers and no data centers," one industry lobbyist noted. "It's between building this infrastructure here, where we have environmental standards and worker protections, or watching it move to countries with neither."

The Grid Strain Reality

Beyond the political debate, grid operators face immediate operational challenges. Much of America's electrical infrastructure was built decades ago for a different era of demand patterns. The sudden surge in data center load—concentrated in specific geographic areas and requiring near-perfect reliability—strains systems never designed for such demands.

In Northern Virginia's "Data Center Alley," which hosts the world's largest concentration of data centers, Dominion Energy has struggled to keep pace with connection requests. Wait times for new power hookups now stretch years into the future, creating a bottleneck that has begun redirecting development to other regions.

The International Energy Agency projects that in an aggressive adoption scenario, global data center electricity demand could reach 1,700 terawatt hours by 2035—more than four times current levels and equivalent to 4.4% of worldwide power consumption.

Renewable Energy Complications

Adding complexity to the debate is the uncomfortable reality that much of data center power consumption comes from fossil fuels. While tech companies tout their renewable energy commitments, the marginal electricity consumed by new facilities often comes from natural gas plants—the generation sources that ramp up when demand exceeds renewable capacity.

Over half of data center electricity currently comes from fossil fuels, with renewables meeting just over a quarter of demand. The gap between corporate sustainability claims and operational reality has drawn criticism from environmental groups who argue that AI development is undermining climate progress.

What Comes Next

The Sanders-DeSantis alignment likely foreshadows broader political attention to data center expansion in the coming months. Legislation requiring environmental impact assessments, mandating renewable energy procurement, or imposing special electricity taxes on large consumers could gain traction in both parties.

For investors, the implications are significant. Utility stocks in data center regions have benefited from the demand surge, but face regulatory risk if political sentiment shifts. Tech companies with massive capital expenditure plans may need to factor in higher power costs or delays in facility construction.

The AI boom that has reshaped markets over the past two years assumed unlimited access to cheap, abundant electricity. That assumption is now being tested by physical constraints and political opposition. The outcome will shape not only energy policy but the trajectory of artificial intelligence development in America.