Big Tech's Energy Appetite Under Fire

Senator Bernie Sanders is taking aim at Big Tech again, and this time it's about electricity bills. On Wednesday, the Vermont independent escalated his criticism of the tech industry's energy demands, zeroing in on Meta Platforms Inc. (META) and a planned Louisiana data center that he says will consume power at a truly staggering scale.

The facility Mark Zuckerberg is building will use three times more electricity than the entire city of New Orleans, according to Sanders. And here's the kicker: he's warning that ordinary taxpayers will end up shouldering the costs while billionaires rake in the profits.

A Blunt Message on Social Media

Sanders took to X to sound the alarm about the explosive growth of AI data centers and the strain they're placing on America's power grid. His message was characteristically direct.

"Oligarchs want YOU to pay for these data centers with higher water & electric bills. Americans must fight back against billionaires who put profits over people," Sanders wrote.

He also shared a video highlighting additional massive projects, including one reportedly involving OpenAI and Oracle Corp. (ORCL) in Texas. That facility alone could consume enough power to serve 750,000 homes, Sanders said. Another Meta site could match the electricity needs of 1.2 million households.

The scale is genuinely wild when you think about it. We're talking about single buildings using more power than major American cities.

Communities Fighting Back

Sanders isn't just complaining into the void. Some cities are already resisting these mega-projects over concerns about rising energy bills, water usage and declining property values.

The senator previously praised residents in St. Charles, Missouri, after local opposition reportedly forced developers to abandon a proposed 440-acre data center. It's a pattern that might become more common as these facilities seek locations across the country.

The AI Boom's Hidden Cost

Sanders' warnings come as energy experts raise red flags about rapidly rising data center demand driven by artificial intelligence. A recent McKinsey & Co. report found that data centers now account for a record 5% of total U.S. electricity consumption. That share could more than double within five years.

The numbers get even more eye-popping when you look at projected spending. McKinsey forecasts nearly $7 trillion in global data center infrastructure spending by 2030, with the United States representing more than 40% of that investment.

The firm attributed about 40% of future power demand growth to AI and high-performance computing, fueled by hyperscalers including Amazon.com, Inc. (AMZN) Web Services, Microsoft Corp's (MSFT) Azure and Alphabet Inc.'s (GOOG) (GOOGL) Google Cloud.

So this isn't just about one facility in Louisiana. It's about a fundamental shift in how much power America needs to keep the AI revolution running. The question Sanders is raising is who pays for all that juice, and whether communities get any say in the matter.

The electricity has to come from somewhere, and someone has to pay for the infrastructure to deliver it. Sanders is betting that message will resonate with voters who see their own utility bills creeping higher.