Likely to dampen the data center boom

[rcjordan]

New Tennessee law requires data center owners to pay full electricity, infrastructure costs

https://www.msn.com/en-us/travel/news/new-tennessee-law-requires-data-center-owners-to-pay-full-electricity-infrastructure-costs/ar-AA24uYNf

[Brad]

That's a step in the right direction.

[ergophobe]

Honestly, it is and it isn't.

I don't know what the answer is, but this is an issue with the expansion of EV chargers too.

Let's say I want to launch a new truck stop that will charge electric trucks. Or let's say that I want to add a major solar farm to the grid. Both of these, for sure the latter, are a net social good.

But in the US, you have to pay ALL the downstream costs. So that solar farm simply doesn't get built because the solar generator has to upgrade every transformer down the line that is impacted. The project pencils out if they can hook up the panels and run 20 miles of line, but it doesn't when they have to upgrade hundreds of miles of line and dozens of transformers.

I don't think any other country does it this way.

So it seems like a good idea when you're taking down the big bad data center. But similar policies also take down solar farms, wind farms, electric charging truck stops, even a high-draw manufacturing facility in a depressed town.

I think a better policy would be to build some new, upgraded "backbone" grid similar to the internet backbone that serves the places that generate and use a lot of juice. A superhighway for electrons.

[rcjordan]

In first, California city overwhelmingly votes to permanently ban datacenters | California | The Guardian
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/jun/03/california-monterey-park-datacenters-ban