As artificial intelligence-driven demand for electricity surges across the United States, New Jersey and Indiana have adopted contrasting strategies to stop the cost of powering vast data centres from being passed on to ordinary households. New Jersey has opted for a top-down regulatory approach, with Democratic Governor Mikie Sherrill signing legislation requiring statewide rules before large data centres can connect to the grid, while Indiana has allowed a utility-led negotiated settlement to guide how costs are shared, reflecting a broader divide between prescriptive state intervention and market-based agreements.

Under New Jersey's law, signed in July, regulators must create a separate rate structure for large data centres and ensure grid upgrades built mainly for their benefit are not billed to other customers, while operators must commit to paying for at least 85% of requested power capacity over ten years and report energy and water usage twice yearly. In Indiana, regulators approved a deal between utility Indiana Michigan Power, consumer advocates and tech firms including Amazon and Google, which are building an $11 billion and $2 billion data centre respectively; the utility is now seeking a $59 million rate cut for 2027, which it says could save an average household around $100 a year, alongside a proposed three-year rate freeze. Energy advocate Daniel Turner said Indiana's collaborative approach was preferable, though he argued neither state had done enough to ensure new data centres add generation capacity to the grid rather than simply drawing from it.