Right now, utility companies are forcing Black communities to subsidize the massive energy demands of AI data centers while billionaires rake in the profits.

To power AI systems like ChatGPT, Grok, Gemini, and xAI, companies are racing to build hundreds of new power plants and massive data centers across the country. These polluting facilities are disproportionately placed in Black communities, consuming extreme amounts of electricity while worsening rates of asthma, cancer, and respiratory illness.

Now, utility companies are trying to pass these costs onto everyday consumers, seeking more than $29 BILLION in rate increases last year alone — double what they asked for the year before. We will not allow it to happen quietly.

Color Of Change is calling on utility companies to withdraw rate hikes tied to data center expansion, fully disclose how much customer money is being used to fund corporate AI infrastructure, and commit to legally binding community benefits agreements that include local reinvestment, strong environmental protections, and safeguards for low-income households.

Here is the Petition:

• Aaron Walker (President and Chief Operating Officer)
• Carter M. Reid (Executive Vice President & Chief of Staff & President, Dominion Energy Service)
• Charles O. Reynolds (President of EPB)
• Don Moul (President and Chief Executive Officer of TVA)
• Gabriel J. Bolas (President and Chief Executive Officer of KUB)
• Harry Sideris (President and Chief Executive Officer of Duke Energy)
• Jimmy D. Staton (President and Chief Executive Officer of Santee Cooper)
• S. Rick Cox (President, Metro Central (Atlanta))

After facing decades of economic neglect, Black, Brown, and low-income communities are being forced to subsidize the artificial intelligence boom through higher energy bills and environmental harm. Across the country, electric companies have requested a $29 billion rate increase, double the amount they asked for last year. While electric utilities and tech companies rake in billions, our communities are left to foot the bill. 

 

To power AI tools like ChatGPT, Grok, Gemini, and xAI, tech companies are rapidly creating massive data centers. These centers consume extreme amounts of electricity, and instead of paying their fair share, utility companies are petitioning to pass these costs onto everyday consumers. 

 

Tech companies are not randomly building these data centers. These companies are intentionally placing them in communities like Memphis, Tennessee; Prince William County, Virginia; Forest Park, Georgia; Jenkinsville and Fairfield County in South Carolina, communities that are predominantly Black, economically disinvested, and politically underserved. 

 

Black communities are already on the brink of an economic crisis. The price of living is surging;, the Black unemployment rate rose to a whopping 7.2% in July; and electric companies are working against the financial and environmental interests of Black people nationwide. As material conditions for Black people worsen, and the environmental health of our communities is attacked, we cannot allow utility companies to put more financial burdens on Black communities. 

 

This is environmental racism in real time. That’s why we are asking you to:

• Cancel or withdraw proposed rate increases tied to AI/data center energy needs.
• Publicly disclose how much customer rate increases are being used to fund corporate data infrastructure.
• Commit to a community benefits agreement (CBA) for any new infrastructure project that:
  • Includes local reinvestment
  • Addresses environmental concerns
  • Guarantees no-cost transfer to low-income consumers
• Invest in renewable energy rather than expanding fossil fuel use for tech clients.
• Consider potential environmental, financial, and long-term impacts on underrepresented communities