ComEd plans to lessen burden of electric costs for consumers concerned about data centers
The I-Team and ABC News are finding out how many of these facilities are in the Chicago area.
CHICAGO (WLS) -- The ongoing ABC7 I-Team investigation into the data center debate continues.
One local utility says it has a plan to help lower electric bills for consumers concerned about rising costs as data centers move in.
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In February, the ABC7 I-Team and ABC News showed how data centers are growing nationwide with thousands of locations, about 200 in Illinois.
Residents said they're worried about their electric bills, but now one utility says there could be relief.
ComEd says it will lessen the burden of electric costs that could passed on to its customers in Northern Illinois, who live near areas where new data centers want to move in.
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"These are 10-year contracts that require data centers and similar customers to guarantee their transmission rate payments for the first ten years of operations," said Max Leichtman, ComEd's director of economic and workforce development.
Leichtman said the utility is requiring any new data centers to sign what's a called a transmission security agreement. These 10-year contracts guarantee the center's anticipated power use for their first decade in operation. That means any new data centers would be on the hook for the power upgrades and energy they plan to use, even if it ends up not getting built, if they don't use as much power as planned, or if they close.
"So if they use the power that they're applying for, then they'll pay their fair share of the cost of maintaining and building our grid through their rates. But if the project uses less power than they project, then they'll pay ComEd the difference, and as a result the cost won't be passed on to other customers," Leichtman said.
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The transmission agreements are not in place for the data centers already running, and even with those agreements, consumers might still see increases on their bills on the "supply charge," which ComEd says they don't profit on. Projected future power use sets off signals in the Illinois power market which indicate that more energy and infrastructure could be required in the future, raising bills.
"Given how much demand is projected, we are seeing the market send price signals that say more generation is going to be needed in Illinois," Leichtman said.
ComEd says they encourage customers to visit their website for tips to maintain and reduce their home and business power costs.
Residents have also expressed concern about noise that comes with data centers. The I-Team will keep following developments on facilities operating now and others that could be moving into local neighborhoods.
