Lake Tahoe residents are the latest community to fight back against AI data centers after thousands of people have been told their power could be cut off to supply new projects.
Nevada-based NV Energy will stop providing 75 percent of Liberty Utilities’ electricity for the California side of Lake Tahoe by May 2027, affecting about 49,000 customers to meet growing demand from AI-driven data centers in Nevada, Fortune reports.
“It’s like we don’t exist,” Danielle Hughes, a North Lake Tahoe resident, CEO of the nonprofit Tahoe Spark and a supervisor within the California Energy Commission’s Efficiency Division, told the outlet.
South Lake Tahoe Mayor Cody Bass said in an April letter to the California Public Utilities Commission that the planned cutoff has triggered “a great deal of concern” among residents and businesses worried about potential disruptions, according to SFGate.
Liberty Utilities, however, has sought to reassure customers, saying the transition is part of routine energy contracting. “This does not mean the power is shutting off,” Eric Schwarzrock, president of Liberty Utilities in Lake Tahoe, said at a South Lake Tahoe City Council meeting last month, per the outlet. “Energy companies, utilities, large customers change energy supply frequently.”
The Independent has asked the companies for comment.
A Liberty Utilities spokesperson told The Independent, “Liberty Utilities has been proactively preparing for the transition to new wholesale power supply partner(s). In March 2026, Liberty filed with the CPUC to begin the selection process for new energy sources. We expect to issue a formal request for proposals this summer, prioritizing options that uphold customer affordability and renewable options.”
The shift means that Liberty Utilities has less than a year to secure new power suppliers to replace most of its electricity supply as regional energy demand continues to rise. Meanwhile, Lake Tahoe residents are pushing back against AI data centers, saying they are driving up energy costs and straining the local grid.
Across the country, locals are raising concerns about pollution, noise, water use and drought strain, rising electricity prices, air quality impacts and the unattractive sight of large data centers in small communities.
Back in Nevada, local groups, including the Sierra Club’s Tahoe Area Group, are asking regulators to slow the process down and hold a full public review instead of rushing approvals.
In an April letter to the California Public Utilities Commission, Sierra Club Vice Chair Tobi Tyler argued that decisions affecting about 49,000 customers on a limited and rapidly changing power grid require greater transparency and public input, rather than a fast-tracked process, Fortune reports.
A separate protest from Tahoe Spark states that, “California does not produce a Liberty-specific forecast of demand, peak conditions, or procurement needed for numerous California communities in a high wildfire risk area,” according to the outlet.
Hughes added, “You need to open a full proceeding and do a transparent process and understand what we look like in California policy, and what the long-term game is.”
Residents also argue Lake Tahoe is being unfairly impacted by energy decisions tied to Nevada’s data center growth and point to electricity prices they say have risen about 77 percent since late 2022, Bloomberg reports.
