More than 230 groups including Food & Water Watch, Physicians for Social Responsibility, and Greenpeace are demanding a pause on the construction of any new data centers in the US until stronger regulations are in place to prevent soaring electricity rates, water use, and pollution.
A critical turning point in this development occurred in October when Minnesota state regulators greenlit the acquisition of Allete by asset management behemoth BlackRock - set to become Allete's majority stakeholder - and the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board. Allete owns Minnesota Power, the main electric utility in northern Minnesota. The approval came against significant community opposition and, as Truthout previously reported, an administrative law judge's report that strongly recommended against the deal.
The California Public Utilities Commission is expected to allow Southern California Edison to hike customer bills by nearly 10% next month, and there may be more increases to come. Edison's plan would boost the average residential bill by $17 a month or about $200 a year, the commission said. The monthly bill for a customer using 500 kilowatts would jump from $171 to $188 on Oct. 1. The five commissioners are scheduled to vote Thursday on the PUC administrative law judge's proposal. It's just one of multiple rate hikes Edison has asked the commission to approve in the coming year.
Duke Energy's proposal to merge its North and South Carolina utility subsidiaries aims to save customers over $1 billion within ten years through operational streamlining and shared infrastructure costs.