Adam Feher (U Lausanne) et al. have posted “Is AI Trained on Public Money? Evidence from US Data Centers” on SSRN. Here is the abstract:
Rapid data center growth has raised concerns about rising energy demand and its effects. Leveraging a novel dataset of U.S. data center energy loads, utility prices, and establishment-level outcomes, we quantify local spillover effects on electricity prices, firm performance, and emissions. Using an IV continuous DiD exploiting exogenous variation in data center location attractiveness, we find no local spillovers over 2010–2024. A regional model calibrated to the empirical null suggests that shocks larger than those observed through 2024 could still result in noticeable increases in household utility bills if not offset by regulation or external supply.