a16z's Alex Immerman, David George, and Sarah Wang on why a data center can lower your electricity bill: "It may seem counterintuitive, but a data center can help lower your electricity rate. A recent US study showed that for every 10% increase in data center capacity, residential rates went down by 40 bps." "You should think about it as a power grid is a shared fixed cost base: poles, wires, substations. A large stable customer, like a data center, can help spread those costs across more units of electricity. Simply put, more demand across a shared system is a positive." "Investment in shared infrastructure can also improve the economics for the households and businesses connected to it." "There's real examples of that today. It's not just lip service." Still, 56% of Texas voters say more data centers would raise their power bills. The catch is it depends on who pays. When developers cover their own grid upgrades instead of pushing them onto everyone else's bills, the savings are real. a16z's @rmcentush on how to get that right: https://www.a16z.news/p/why-texas-is-making-data-centers @aleximm @DavidGeorge83 @sarahdingwang