Reposted by Sludge
Data center interests are throwing events for the Congressional Black Caucus—and donating to their groups—ahead of potential legislation in the next Congress.
Here's how Big Tech woos lawmakers, even as local opposition to pollution (think Memphis and xAI) builds. New @sludge.bsky.social:
readsludge.com
Black Caucus Groups Take $1.6 Million From Big Tech as Caucus Weighs Data Center Stance
Beyond the money, the groups have hosted executives from Meta, Exelon and Entergy at their conferences, and caucus aides toured a data center with a think tank that has received funding from Google, M...
![screengrab from Sludge news article: "AI Money Floods State Fights Over Data Centers" (09-03-26)
https://readsludge.com/2026/09/03/ai-money-floods-state-fights-over-data-centers/
... reference research by Mike Jacobs of the nonprofit Union of Concerned Scientists, UCS:
"Some of the ads from America Connects lean on the message that data centers will pay for their energy costs, seeking to defuse an opposition talking point. However, Jacobs of UCS found that utilities had committed to costs of at least $4.6 billion in 2024 and $3.1 billion in 2025, across just eight states, that will be shifted to consumers. Jacobs told Sludge that the data centers’ huge energy consumption is behind rising energy rates: “In the 13 states and D.C. of [grid operator] PJM, the additional demand from data centers is named as the driver of higher costs for those years in three consecutive years of reports by the Independent Market Monitor on the generator capacity procurements held by PJM.”](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:mocru4f3wv372zm6zlhsgygs/bafkreibr34jfq6bp64jqerjqbwfd72hfluirkq7c4ctc4pit7mzqna6dre)
