Greenlink Analytics and Science for Georgia have completed an analysis of data center growth and its potential impact on the Southeastern United States. This report finds that utilities in Alabama, Georgia, North Carolina, and South Carolina are planning for data-center-driven electricity demand growth that has an approximate 0.2% chance of actually occurring. These states are facing a massive proposed expansion of methane gas infrastructure and power plants to support data centers.

Using credible national and global market data on data center growth, Monte Carlo simulations, and compared this with utilities’ projections, Greenlink Analytics and Science for Georgia developed an independent data center load forecast for the Southeast. The analysis demonstrates that utilities are betting on the highly unlikely top end of the range.

On average, households nationally pay about 4.1% of their income on energy (gas and electricity) bills. As of 2019, Gainesville’s average energy burden is 4.5% in 2019, .4% higher than the national average.

However, the energy burden is not distributed evenly across neighborhoods. When energy burden is mapped across the city, data shows that it disproportionately impacts residents in the Northern and Central portions of the city.

Charlotte is currently the 12th most energy burdened city out of the Climate Challenge cities. Across the city, Charlotte's average energy burden is 3.9% as of 2019, 1.08 times the national average. When energy burden is mapped across the city by neighborhood, the data shows that energy burden disproportionately impacts residents in the northern inner portions of the city.