This past Saturday, 142 protests broke out across 42 states. Not about immigration. Not about taxes. About data centers. Communities from Texas to upstate New York showed up to fight massive AI server farms they say are driving up electricity bills and draining local water supplies.

Most people hear “data center” and picture a room full of blinking servers in some office park. Something small. Something boring. That was 10 years ago.

This year, data centers worldwide will consume 565 terawatt hours of electricity. That’s more than all of France uses in a year. More than Germany. Roughly 1.8 times what the United Kingdom uses. And here’s the part that really gets me... just a few years ago, AI-specific data centers barely existed as a category. This year, AI servers alone will eat 175 TWh — nearly a third of all data center power. Gartner says by next year, AI servers will use more electricity than every conventional server on Earth combined.

The U.S. is at the center of it. American data centers account for 36% of the global total — 204 TWh this year. That’s more electricity than most individual states use in a year. Someone has to generate all that power. Someone has to pay for the grid upgrades, the new plants, the transmission lines.

Take a look at your electric bill from last July. Now look at this one. Those 142 protests didn’t come out of nowhere.

Next time someone tells you AI will change everything, don’t argue. Just ask them who’s paying the electric bill. If your utility company has announced a rate increase this year — or if you’re wondering why one is coming — this is one big reason. Worth 10 minutes on your local utility’s website this week. Not next month. This week.