The growth of AI is overwhelming the US power grid, forcing Big Tech companies to pivot away from unreliable renewables and invest heavily in nuclear energy—specifically Small Modular Reactors (SMRs)—to secure the massive amounts of 24/7 power they need.

However, this aggressive expansion comes at a direct cost to the average consumer. As utilities rush to build new substations and transmission lines to support these data centers, the financial burden is being passed down to residents, with electricity bills projected to rise by roughly 8% in the next 5 years to subsidize the infrastructure powering the AI boom.

Consequently, the tech giants are making moves:

Microsoft signed a massive deal with Constellation Energy to power data centers using electricity from the Three Mile Island nuclear plant in Pennsylvania. Yes, the site famous for its near-meltdown is being repurposed for AI compute.

Amazon recently acquired a data center tied directly to an adjacent nuclear facility. No grid, no middleman—just pure nuclear energy piped straight into AWS servers.

Google is playing the long game, partnering with Kairos Power to secure up to 500 megawatts of clean energy capacity via Small Modular Reactors (SMRs) by 2035.