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Flex CEO Warns AI Data Centers Must Not Shift Power Costs Onto Consumers

September 22, 2026 at 20:32 EDT

Infra & Chips
Policy & Regulation

Flex CEO Revathi Advaithi warned that the AI data-center buildout risks losing public support if utilities route scarce power to server farms while households see higher electricity bills. Her comments put a manufacturing executive at the center of a fast-growing policy fight over who should pay for the grid upgrades needed to support AI infrastructure.

Sep. 23, 2026 · AI infrastructure

AI Power Buildout Meets the Billpayer Test

Flex CEO Revathi Advaithi says data-center growth becomes a problem when utility decisions raise consumer electricity bills, even as AI infrastructure remains central to future innovation.

Demand more than doubles by 2030

415 TWh2024

945 TWh2030 projection

Global data-center electricity use is projected to climb from about 1.5% of power consumption to nearly 3%.

84%Concerned about local electricity prices

1 GWReducible demand committed by Google

417-3House vote on ratepayer protection

The cost question

Build

AI workloads need new power, cooling and grid-to-rack systems.

Allocate

Regulators are weighing whether large users pay full upgrade costs.

Flex

Operators are testing demand cuts, batteries and workload shifting.

Infrastructure case

Suppliers and developers argue that energy infrastructure is needed to keep AI capacity, healthcare innovation and other compute-heavy uses moving.

Ratepayer concern

Communities and consumer advocates are focused on whether households and small businesses will pay for upgrades built for large data centers.

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