British Columbia proposed legislation to limit how much electricity will be available to artificial intelligence data centers, and moved to permanently ban new cryptocurrency mining projects.

The government of Canada’s third-most populous province will prioritize connections to its power grid for other purposes like mines and natural gas facilities because they provide more jobs and revenue for people in BC, the energy ministry said Monday.

“Other jurisdictions have been challenged to address electricity demands from emerging sectors and, in many cases, have placed significant rate increases on the backs of ratepayers,” the department said Monday.

That’s a reference to US states like Virginia and Maryland, where a proliferation of the power-hungry data centers needed for AI appears to be pushing up citizens’ power bills, according to a Bloomberg analysis. BC “is receiving significant requests for power” from these industries, Energy Minister Adrian Dix said at a press conference.

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[–] corsicanguppy@lemmy.ca 4 points 2 days ago (1 children)

Indirectly.

More power use means more demand, which drives up the price because everyone must make more profit -- despite economies of scale and consolidation wins.

[–] betanumerus@lemmy.ca 1 points 2 days ago

Ok, but the extra demand not from the public and not even from their customers. The extra demand is from no one but the AI and data companies themselves, since there the ones pushing for customers to use more data, more AI and more power. The public only wants more of that if prices stay the same and the power is from renewables.