2026年4月14日 / 美国东部时间上午11:43 / 哥伦比亚广播公司新闻
美国公用事业公司计划在未来五年内投入1.4万亿美元，更新该国日渐老化的电网，因为数据中心热潮加剧了对电力的需求。
这一数据来自无党派非营利消费者教育组织PowerLines周二发布的一份新报告，该组织分析了51家投资者所有公用事业公司的资本支出计划。这些服务2.5亿美国客户的公司中，大多数在财报中指出，数据中心是资本支出的首要推动因素。
随着科技公司扩大人工智能计算的产能，开发商正竞相在全美各地建设耗电巨大的数据中心。这一热潮引发了当地社区的反对，他们担心电力需求上升将导致公用事业账单上涨。
根据麻省理工学院能源倡议组织的数据，2023年美国数据中心的耗电量占全国总用电量的4%以上。该研究机构预测，到2030年这一比例可能升至9%。
对消费者的影响
根据PowerLines的报告，强化电网以应对极端天气、更换老化基础设施，是公用事业公司提及的未来投资原因之一。这些公用事业公司计划在未来五年内投入的1.4万亿美元，较其2025年的预测增长了20%以上。
资本支出计划需要州公用事业监管机构的批准。PowerLines表示，预计支出的增长可能也会转化为消费者更高的账单，因为公用事业公司通常会通过上调电价的方式将成本转嫁给家庭。这意味着在美国民众已经因能源成本上涨而倍感压力之际，他们的电费可能还会上涨。
PowerLines今年早些时候发布的另一份报告发现，由于监管机构在2025年批准了一系列电价上调，5600万美国人将面临更高的公用事业账单。根据美国能源信息署的数据，今年住宅平均电价预计将上涨5.1%。
如果这一趋势持续下去，该非营利组织预测，住宅用户最终可能将承担这51家投资者所有公用事业公司计划资本支出的近一半，即约7000亿美元。
尽管威胁迫在眉睫，但电价上涨并非不可避免，PowerLines表示。该组织表示，这取决于州监管机构能否对公用事业公司的支出计划进行有效监督，以确保成本负担不会过多落在消费者身上。数据中心也可以发挥作用。
“数据中心等新电力消费者实际上可以通过为公用事业公司提供更多收入来源，同时将固定成本分摊到更大的客户群体中，对电价形成下行压力，”报告中写道。
编辑：艾米·皮奇
https://www.cbsnews.com/video/nationwide-boom-in-ai-data-centers-stirs-resistance/
Utility companies to spend $1.4 trillion over the next 5 years amid data center boom
April 14, 2026 / 11:43 AM EDT / CBS News
U.S. utility companies are planning to invest $1.4 trillion over the next five years to update the nation’s ailing power grid as the data center boom intensifies the need for electricity.
That’s according to a new report released Tuesday by the nonpartisan nonprofit consumer education organization PowerLines, which analyzed capital spending plans from 51 investor-owned utilities. A majority of those companies, which serve 250 million U.S. customers, cited data centers as a top driver of capital expenditures in their earnings reports.
Developers are rushing to build power-hungry data centers across the country as tech companies look to expand capacity for artificial intelligence computing. The boom has sparked local opposition from communities that fear rising electricity demand will result in higher utility bills.
U.S. data centers consumed more than 4% of the country’s total electricity in 2023, according to the MIT Energy Initiative. That could rise to 9% by 2030, the research group projects.
Impact on consumers
Strengthening the grid against severe weather and replacing aging infrastructure were among the reasons utilities cited for future investments, according to the PowerLines report. The $1.4 trillion that the utilities plan to spend over the next five years is an increase of more than 20% from their 2025 projections.
Capital expenditure plans require approval from state utility regulators. The projected rise in spending could also translate into bigger bills for consumers, as utilities often pass costs onto households in the form of rate hikes, according to PowerLines. That means Americans could see their electricity bills go up at a time when they are already feeling squeezed by rising energy costs.
A separate report from PowerLines earlier this year found that 56 million Americans will face higher utility bills due to a series of rate hikes regulators approved in 2025. Average residential electricity prices are projected to increase 5.1% this year, according to data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration.
If that trend continues, the nonprofit predicts residential customers could end up footing the bill for nearly half of planned utility capital spending from the 51 investor-owned utilities, or around $0.7 trillion.
While the threat looms large, rate increases are not inevitable, according to PowerLines. The nonprofit said it will be up to state regulators to conduct effective oversight of utilities’ spending plans to ensure the cost burden doesn’t fall too heavily on customers. Data centers can also play a role.
“New electricity consumers such as data centers can actually apply downward pressure on rates by providing utilities more sources of revenue while spreading fixed costs over a larger customer base,” the report says.
Edited by Aimee Picchi
https://www.cbsnews.com/video/nationwide-boom-in-ai-data-centers-stirs-resistance/
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