Who Pays for the Power? Putting Responsibility Back Where It Belongs

Coach Samantha

10 hours ago

4 min read

We are told, again and again, that there isn't enough. Not enough electricity, not enough water, not enough capacity to go around. The message often arrives with a quiet sting in its tail: that ordinary people are the problem, and that the solution is for us to consume less.

I'd like to gently, but candidly, question that story.

The public is already being careful

Most of us live with modern appliances designed to conserve energy and water. Utility bills keep climbing, which makes us mindful of every tap and every thermostat. Add genuine environmental concern, and I believe the public is more conscientious with natural resources than ever before. It differs from place to place, of course, but that is the trend I see.

So when the narrative lands squarely on household habits, I can't help asking: is that where the real strain is coming from?

A lesson from my years in government

I spent ten years in the Ontario public service, mostly in operations, finance and administration, and later as Director of Operations for a Minister. I was never an infrastructure planner, but during those years I absorbed a planning principle I have never forgotten: development should proceed only where the roads, water, transit and services to support it were in place or firmly planned. A community could not simply be flooded with new demand without the means to support it.

That thinking still appears in Ontario's planning policy, which asks municipalities to demonstrate that infrastructure and public service facilities are planned or available for new settlement areas. [6] It is a sensible principle: the builder carries responsibility for the burden the project creates.

Now apply that to AI

I love AI as a tool. I use it, and I respect it. But it runs on enormous amounts of electricity and water, and the facilities that power it are expanding at remarkable speed.

The numbers are worth sitting with. Much of the best data comes from the United States, and the picture varies elsewhere:

In PJM, the large grid region serving 13 eastern and Midwestern US states, the independent market monitor attributed 63% of the price increase in one recent capacity auction to data centres. That is about $9.3 billion, recovered from customers across the region through higher electricity rates. [1]
Data centres used about 4.4% of US electricity in 2023, and the US Department of Energy's Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory projects that share could reach between 6.7% and 12% by 2028. [2]
Google reported that its water consumption grew 34% to 10.9 billion gallons in 2025. [3] To be fair, the company says it replenished roughly 78% of its freshwater consumption through stewardship projects. [4]

In other words, in at least one major US grid region, households are helping to fund the infrastructure for some of the world's largest technology companies, while much of the public conversation still leans on household conservation.

Where the responsibility should sit

If we expect a builder to prove that a neighbourhood can support a new development, we should expect the same of those building the AI enterprises of the future. Companies that develop and operate this technology should be responsible, ideally by law, for ensuring the water and electricity they need are provided without shortages and without shifting the cost onto the public.

Some of the largest tech companies have signed a pledge to cover their own grid costs, which is a welcome signal. But it is nonbinding. [5] A voluntary promise is not the same as accountability.

That will not happen on its own. It requires conscious leadership, and it requires us, as citizens, to hold our leaders accountable for pressing these organisations to do the right thing.

A call for honesty, not blame

This isn't an argument against technology, and it isn't about vilifying anyone. It's about honesty in how the story is told. Conservation matters, and all of us can do our part. But a narrative that places the burden on everyday people while the largest consumers grow unchecked is not a fair one.

Let's shine the light back where it belongs, and ask for leadership that plans ahead, tells the whole truth, and shares the responsibility fairly.

Why this matters to me as a coach

Conscious leadership means owning the impact of your decisions before you act, the same way a builder proves the infrastructure is in place before a project begins. It means telling the whole truth, planning ahead, and standing behind the consequences. This is the heart of my leadership coaching: helping leaders make decisions they can stand behind. If you lead a team or an organisation and want to build that kind of clear-eyed, responsible leadership, I'd love to hear from you.