Every time you ask AI to write an email, summarize a document, or answer a question, the work happens somewhere. That somewhere is a data center: a large building full of computers running day and night. Those computers need electricity to run, and they often need water to stay cool.
That is not a problem by itself. The real question is what happens when one of these buildings goes up near you, and whether it ends up showing on your bills.
In the Orlando Sentinel's 2026 Voters Guide, Eric Gray, a candidate for Florida House District 35, talks about a proposed data center near Yeehaw Junction, Florida. The plan is for a building of about 7 million square feet.
Gray estimates it could need around 700 megawatts of power. To put that in local terms, he compares it to Cane Island, a whole power plant in Osceola County. For water, he estimates several million gallons a day, close to what the entire city of St. Cloud uses.
Keep this in perspective: these are a candidate's estimates, shared in a voters guide. No official power figure for this project has been published yet. They are worth asking about, not worth panicking over.
People in Chicago are asking the same thing. In letters to the Chicago Tribune, readers asked whether the city's grid can handle several data centers at once, and what happens to everyone's electric bill if it has to grow. One idea floated in Chicago, cooling data centers with coils in Lake Michigan, drew criticism because it would heat the lake.
Different cities, same two questions. Is there enough power and water? And who pays for more?
Here is the simple version. A building that needs as much power as a power plant may need new plants, new power lines, and new water pipes. All of that costs money. If the data center pays for what it needs, fine. If it doesn't, the cost could get spread across everyone's bills, including homes and small shops.
Picture a bakery owner (an illustrative example, not a real case). Ovens, fridges and lights already make power one of her bigger monthly costs. Nothing changes in the bakery, but the bill creeps up anyway, because the utility is paying for upgrades that were built for someone else.
Gray puts the fix in one line: "the load should pay for the load." In plain words, whoever needs the extra power covers the cost of it. Florida has started down that road. FPL has special rates for very large power users, called large-load tariffs.
| Step | What to do |
|---|---|
| 1. Read the notices, not just the total | The notices that come with your power bill are where rate changes show up. Skim them instead of only checking the amount due. |
| 2. Ask who pays | At council meetings, and when you talk to your candidates, ask one question: who pays for the new power and the new water? |
| 3. Check the numbers | When you see a big figure, ask whether it is an estimate or official. And ask whether there is a water plan. |
None of this means AI is the bad guy. AI is useful, and it has to live somewhere. Just make sure the building pays its own way. Keep it simple.
Utilities are one of those costs most owners don't question until they jump. Knowing where the next rate change could come from gives you time to plan, speak up, or budget for it. And if you use AI in your business, use it on purpose, for the jobs that actually save you time. If you are setting that up for the first time, start with why AI needs a second brain to be useful.
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