Snapshot from Jul 28, 2026 at 07:00 UTC. For live data and tracking: View Live
Events / Business / Data center demand hikes...
Business regulatory impact

Data center demand hikes manufacturer power costs

Analysis based on 19 articles · First reported Apr 20, 2026 · Last updated Jul 09, 2026

Sentiment
-30
Attention
4
Articles
19
Market Impact
General
Live prominence charts, article sentiment distribution, and event development timeline available on the Ergen Dashboard
Market Impact

Rising electricity costs threaten the viability of U.S. manufacturing, potentially leading to higher prices, slower growth, or relocation. Data center growth is driving grid investments but also straining supply, with PJM taking emergency steps to prevent blackouts.

manufacturing utilities data centers
Event Summary

Rising electricity demand from data centers serving artificial intelligence is driving up capacity charges for manufacturers in the PJM Interconnection region, particularly in the Rust Belt. Belden Brick Company saw its monthly capacity charge jump from $1,600 to $12,000, and overall industrial electricity prices rose 31% in United States — Pennsylvania and 26% in United States — Ohio year-over-year as of December 2025. PJM's capacity prices surged 1,038% from 2024 to 2025. Manufacturers like Plaskolite and Tosoh Corporation — Tosoh SMD are considering alternative power sources or shifting production to off-peak hours. Federal and state proposals aimed at managing data center demand may also affect manufacturers. The United States — White House has taken steps to cushion the impact, including a ratepayer protection pledge from tech companies and directives to build new power plants.

Key Actions
60 United States — Nuclear Regulatory Commission proposed transmission charge
50 Belden Brick Company raised brick prices
50 Donald Trump hosted tech companies signing pledge
40 Plaskolite considering shifting to natural gas
40 United States — White House issued directives to build power plants
40 United States ordered grid operators
30 Tosoh Corporation — Tosoh SMD considering shifting production to graveyard shift
30 Roseville Electric Utility extended procurement timeline
25 Roseville Electric Utility shifted sourcing overseas
Entities Involved
priv
Belden Brick Company
Brick manufacturer facing 90% electricity cost surge; raised prices 4% but profits still shrinking.
Importance 80.0 Sentiment -60.0
cnt
United States
Country where data center growth is driving up manufacturing electricity costs; Trump prioritizing domestic manufacturing.
Importance 70.0 Sentiment -20.0
govactor
United States — Nuclear Regulatory Commission
Proposing transmission charges for onsite power generation; manufacturing advocates seeking exemptions.
Importance 60.0 Sentiment -10.0
per
Brad Belden
President of Belden Brick Company; raised brick prices 4% and considering onsite power generation.
Importance 60.0 Sentiment -50.0
per
Donald Trump
U.S. President prioritizing domestic manufacturing; hosted tech companies signing ratepayer protection pledge.
Importance 50.0 Sentiment 10.0
loc
United States — Ohio
State where manufacturers like Belden Brick Company and Tosoh Corporation — Tosoh SMD are located; industrial electricity prices up 26%.
Importance 50.0 Sentiment -30.0
priv
Plaskolite
Plastic products manufacturer seeing capacity charges jump to $1.2M annually; considering switching to natural gas.
Importance 50.0 Sentiment -50.0
ngo
Industrial Energy Consumers of America
Trade group advocating for manufacturers; president Paul Cicio warns of viability impacts.
Importance 50.0 Sentiment -20.0
govactor
United States — White House
Issued directives to build power plants in PJM paid for by tech companies; cited ratepayer protection pledge.
Importance 50.0 Sentiment 10.0
loc
United States — Pennsylvania
State where Plaskolite has facilities; industrial electricity prices up 31%.
Importance 40.0 Sentiment -30.0
stock
Meta Platforms
Tech giant cited as example of large data center power demand; declined to comment.
Importance 40.0 Sentiment -10.0
stock
Amazon (company)
Tech giant cited as example of large data center power demand; did not respond to comment request.
Importance 40.0 Sentiment -10.0
subs
Tosoh Corporation — Tosoh SMD
Electronics materials producer considering shifting production to graveyard shift to save on electricity costs.
Importance 40.0 Sentiment -40.0
per
Paul Cicio
President of Industrial Energy Consumers of America; warns manufacturers should not be impacted by data center rules.
Importance 40.0 Sentiment -20.0
ngo
Data Center Coalition
Trade group arguing data center growth drives grid investments and addresses long-standing challenges.
Importance 30.0 Sentiment 10.0
+ 7 more entities View on Dashboard
Relationships
United States related ↔ United States — Nuclear Regulatory Commission
United States related ↔ Donald Trump
United States related ↔ United States — White House
United States — Nuclear Regulatory Commission related ↔ Donald Trump
Donald Trump head ↔ United States — White House Donald Trump is the current President of the United States, serving as the head of the White House and its administratio
ERGEN INTELLIGENCE
Track this event live

Set up alerts, explore entity relationships, search across thousands of events, and build custom intelligence feeds.

Open Dashboard

About Ergen

Ergen is a news intelligence platform that converts raw news articles into structured data. It tracks events, entities, and the relationships between them, with sentiment and attention metrics derived from thousands of articles. Pages on this site are daily static snapshots from the platform's live database. For real-time tracking, search, and alerts, the full dashboard is at app.ergen.ai.