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For years, electricity costs for the Belden Brick Company in Sugarcreek, Ohio, had been relatively stable. Last year, they surged by 90% — largely because of rising power demand from data centers in the region.
The 141-year-old brick manufacturer, whose products can be found in iconic buildings including the Texas Alamo and Notre Dame University, is seeing power bills rise mainly from a monthly capacity charge, which recently jumped from $1,600 a month to $12,000.
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Belden Brick is among many manufacturers across America’s heartland where costs are rising as power-hungry data centers serving the artificial intelligence industry proliferate.
Factory electricity bills, a core expense, are rising faster than for many homes and other businesses, according to a Reuters review of U.S. energy data and interviews with nearly a dozen manufacturers and industry advocates.