The Argument
Corporations shouldn't externalize costs while internalizing profits. Energy is the current proof point.
When a data center connects to the grid, it triggers infrastructure investment that can run into the billions. Under current utility regulation in most states, that cost is distributed across every existing ratepayer. The company building the data center pays nothing for the grid it depends on.
This is cost externalization. The company internalizes the profit. The public absorbs the expense. The mechanism is not unique to energy. The same structure drives pharmaceutical pricing, insurance withdrawal from high-risk markets, hospital consolidation, and agricultural water rights. The sector changes. The logic is identical.
Energy is where the legislation is moving right now. Florida, Pennsylvania, Colorado, and Arizona have all required load creators to fund their own infrastructure. The White House issued a voluntary pledge. ALEC published a market-logic brief. The consensus is arriving. That makes energy the best entry point for the broader argument.
That's what this work is about. The energy pieces are the current vehicle. Corporate accountability is the destination.
