The Washington Examiner runs an opinion piece arguing that politicians are scapegoating data centers for high electricity prices when the real driver is blue-state climate policy. The outlet does not list an author, but the analysis walks through New Jersey and Virginia campaign rhetoric and then points to the policy architecture that quietly inflates bills.
According to the op-ed, cap-and-trade schemes such as the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, long-term above-market renewable contracts, rooftop solar cross-subsidies, and aggressive electrification mandates push costs up across the grid. By contrast, Texas has built even more data centers than California while keeping prices lower and growth faster, largely by avoiding those policies.
The Bullet Point Brief
- Data centers are the political villain of the week, but electricity prices rise fastest in states layering on climate mandates.
- RGGI raises costs by forcing generators to buy allowances, a tab that flows to everyone on the grid; Virginia’s regulator pegged added costs in the billions.
- California shows the pattern: caps, pricey contracts, rooftop subsidies, and electrification rules equal the nation’s steepest power prices.
- Texas contradicts the scapegoat story: more data centers than California, yet below-average prices and slower increases. Policy, not servers, sets the bill.
- By 2028, the op-ed says voters will see which model works: regulate-and-blame vs. build-and-balance.
My Bottom Line
There is a ton of truth here, which is why I am sharing it. In Colorado, we hear the same chorus: blame a new load, blame a buzzword, anything but the policy choices that made kilowatts more expensive. You cannot virtue signal your way to reliable, affordable energy. You get there by letting consumers and markets work and by keeping government from picking winners.
Normie Coloradans just lived through top-down mandates and regulatory theatrics. The result is fewer choices, higher costs, and a grid that needs more firm power, not more slogans. If California can have the most data centers blamed for its prices while Texas has even more data centers and lower prices, maybe the villain isn’t the server rack. Maybe it is the statute book.
So yes, build what pencils and keep what works. Measure success in cents per kilowatt hour and winter reliability, not in press releases. Colorado’s path forward is simple: stop treating energy policy like a social experiment. Let families choose, let utilities compete, and keep the lights on without raiding wallets.
Source: Washington Examiner
