A column on The Washington Post website points out a trend in several states that may show up in Mississippi when the next state elections roll around.
“Artificial intelligence has disrupted yet another part of American life: electoral politics,” columnist Theodore R. Johnson wrote. Exhibit A is Georgia, where AI data center construction across the state is blamed for noticeably increasing electricity prices.
Residents of the conservative state responded last month by voting out two Republican incumbents on the Public Service Commission, which sets utility prices. The winners will be the first Georgia Democrats to hold state-level office in two decades.
There are a couple of other prominent examples. Voters in Virginia and New Jersey elected two Democratic governors, flipping the seat in Virginia. Both winners campaigned on affordability and rising energy costs. But Johnson’s column focuses on the lesser-known seats like a Public Service Commission, where candidates run under party banners but the politics are less intense.
One study of Arizona’s public utility rates showed that elections help keep such commissioners in check. The power of the polls encouraged them to respond to voters and set “pro-consumer” electricity prices.
The study also said when such encouragement slips — when party competition in a state is weak, for example; or when incumbents don’t feel threatened — voters are willing to cross party lines to reject an elected official who has annoyed them. Again, Georgia’s recent results are a good example of this.
“Public utility regulators are often electoral afterthoughts, but monthly bills are top of mind for most Americans; economic strain raises the salience of the local over the national,” Johnson wrote. If that’s true, it will be interesting to see how Mississippi’s venture into AI data centers goes over with voters in the 2027 elections.
Several months ago, the state announced with great fanfare the location of an Amazon data center, with multiple locations in Madison County. In November, the company announced another facility for Vicksburg.
If it turns out that these data centers, which use immense amounts of electricity, increase energy demand that raises costs for consumers, someone will be held accountable for it.
The first place to look might be the Mississippi Public Service Commission — except that, according to reports about the bill set up for Amazon, the PSC is forbidden to review or set electricity rates for the data centers.
In 2027, the next logical place to look for accountability would be with the lawmakers who quickly approved the 316-page bill Amazon in a special session, perhaps without reviewing many of its elements. After that, it would be any incumbent state officials who are running for key posts like governor or lieutenant governor.
It’s easy for Republican voters in Georgia to replace GOP public service commissioners. And it’s no surprise at all that Democrats won governor’s races in Virginia and New Jersey. But it’s a lot harder to believe that significant numbers of Mississippi Republicans will support Democrats who talk a better game about lower electricity prices. They would be more likely to support other Republicans who didn’t have anything to do with the Amazon project.
Still, if electricity continue to rise in price, the 2026 midterm elections will be more interesting. If the issue lingers into 2027, when Mississippi chooses its state and local officials, it will add a wild card to our elections as well.
