Nearly 50,000 residents living around Lake Tahoe are facing an uncertain future after the region's long-time energy supplier announced it will stop providing most of the area's electricity by May 2027.
The decision has thrown one of America's busiest mountain destinations into a growing fight over AI data centres, power demand and who gets left behind as tech companies consume more electricity across the West.
According to reports, residents, local officials andenvironmental groupssay the tourist region is now being squeezed by a system prioritising massive industrial growth over the people who already live there year-round.
The crisis centres around NV Energy, the Nevada utility that has supplied roughly 75% of the electricity used by Liberty Utilities customers on the California side of Lake Tahoe for years.
That arrangement will end in May 2027, forcing Liberty Utilities to find an entirely new wholesale power source for nearly 49,000 customers, including homes, ski resorts, casinos and businesses throughout the region.
The reason behind the shift is Northern Nevada's exploding data centre growth tied to the AI boom. Massive facilities linked to companies includingGoogle, Apple and Microsoft are rapidly expanding around the Tahoe-Reno Industrial Center east of Reno, consuming enormous amounts of electricity.
According to Nevada energy projections, data centres already accounted for 22% of the state's electricity use in 2024 and could climb to 35% by 2030.
The news has sparked alarm among residents who fear rising utility bills, instability during ski season and long-term pressure from the growing AI industry.
'It's like we don't exist,' Danielle Hughes, a North Lake Tahoe resident and CEO of Tahoe Spark, toldFortune.
Hughes said locals feel pushed aside while utilities focus on serving billion-dollar industrial customers. She also warned that Lake Tahoe's permanent residents are often treated like wealthy vacation home owners despite many working-class communities living in the region year-round.
Source: International Business Times UK
