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Its a staggering statistic: Around 70% of the worlds internet traffic flows through Virginia. The states data centers, some of which feature hallways nearly a mile long with thousands of thrumming servers on either side, make possible the billions of retail transactions, videos streams, and artificial intelligence queries that happen around the world each day. But as more data centers are built to accommodate AI and other data-intensive processes, energy demand is expected to skyrocket. A single hyperscale data center can use the same amount of energy as a large city, and the stress this is placing on local power grids is expected to drive up energy costs for residents in Virginiaand around the country. What we are projecting, with the contracts that are already in place, is that the energy demand in Virginia will almost double just because of AI and data centers, says Joo Ferreira, a regional economist who worked on a recent report about data centers by the Virginia Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission. That, of course, will impact all the electricity ratepayers, because we will end up paying more for electricity. Virginia is an enormous energy importer This exploding demand is especially burdensome for states serviced by PJM, a regional transmission organization serving Virginia, 12 other states, and Washington, D.C. The organization, the largest of its kind in America, coordinates the movement of power from company to company and state to state. Virginia imports more energy than any other state50.1 million megawatt hours, or 36% of its total energy supply, as of 2023so the expansion of the states energy needs are expected to reverberate throughout the PJM region. A recent report by the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis finds that ratepayers in other states will end up paying for the infrastructure that transports energy to data centers. West Virginia, which the report uses as a case study, could pay an estimated $440 million for two new energy transmission lines, despite having no data center industry of its own. These transmission linescalled the Mid-Atlantic Reliability Link and Valley Linkpropose to bring energy from power plants in Pennsylvania to Virginia and from those in West Virginia to Maryland, respectively. These lines are still proposals, rather than ongoing construction projects. Still, they raise concerns because all ratepayers in the region will pay for the lines, passing hundreds of millions of dollars onto taxpayers in each state. When utility companies build transmission lines and other infrastructure, the cost is spread across all ratepayers in the region. The assumption is that these lines provide benefits, like reliability of electricity, to everyone, so everyone should pay for them. But the large data centers powering AI programs upend this logic, says Cathy Kunkel, author of the recent report and energy consultant at IEEFA. Its just so enormous and were really talking about building infrastructure that would not be needed if not for the data centers, Kunkel adds. A new model of electricity demand While data centers and other internet infrastructure have been powered by sources across state boundaries for decades, concerns about residential ratepayers burdens are more intense than ever due to the mismatch between the modern demands of the energy sector and the legal framework governing itmuch of which was developed decades ago, when our energy needs were quite different. Everybody gets electricity delivered from some company that has a monopoly on delivering electricity within that geographic area, says Ari Peskoe, Director of the Electricity Law Initiative at Harvard Law School. Even though their prices are heavily regulated and their profit margins are regulated as well, they still want to grow their business. The way that these businesses grow in this regulatory environment is by building out their physical infrastructure, which guarantees them a certain rate of return. The larger the company and the more infrastructure they manage, the more money is allowed to flow into the business. Hidden subsidies With this traditional model of regulated growth, data centers are a windfall. Their large size and energy needs means substantial infrastructure must be added to the grid, and energy companies do their best to attract data centers to the regions they serve. Peskoe has found that confidential deals often take place between data centers and utility companies, providing rates that are not as transparent as typical rate-setting processes. Everybody, obviously, is trying to reduce their own rate that they pay, but that, in effect, causes somebody else to pay more, because you have this billion-dollar pie that everything has to add up to, Peskoe says. These hidden subsidies raise issues for legislators and residents, alike. States are struggling to meet environmental goals as transitions to renewable energy sources are put on hold and fossil fuel power plants reopen to help meet rising energy demand. Meanwhile, residents are already starting to feel the rising costs: 78% of Americans are stressed about their high energy bills, according to a CNET survey last year. Reacting to the Virginia Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission report last year, which touched on many of these issues, the tech-company backed Data Center Coalition (DCC) issued a statement highlighting the positive findings of the report. Namely that the industry “supports 74,000 jobs, $5.5 billion in labor income, and $9.1 billion in GDP in Virginia” each year. “We look forward to continuing to engage with policymakers about the JLARC findings and opportunities to advance positive economic, environmental, and social outcomes while building and supporting Virginias 21st-century economy,” DCC President Josh Levi said in the statement. Searching for a fair system Community advocates, policy analysts, and economists advocate for reforming the way utilities serve he data center industry. Some states like Georgia and Ohio are starting to consider ratepayer protectionssuch as creating new rates that separate industries using large amounts of energy from industries and residents that do notas their data center industries start to grow. Other states, like Utah and Maryland, are passing bills that provide transparent rate structures for data centers, aiming to eliminate the hidden subsidies.” In other cases, its the utility companies themselves pushing back against fronting the cost of data center growth. Some companies are starting to require long-term contracts with guaranteed minimum payments from data centers, Kunkel says, ensuring they remain accountable for the long-term costs of infrastructure. As costs continue to rise, legislators are pushing for regulatory bodies to explore other solutions. In February, Sen. Tim Kaine (D-VA) and three other senators wrote a letter urging the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to make guidelines insulating consumers against rising costs and other ill effects of increased energy demand. Later that month, FERC ordered a review of the issues AI data centers can cause other consumers, ultimately planning to evaluate the need for updated regulations. (Current FERC Chairman Mark Christie was nominated during President Trump’s first term and has been in office since 2021. The agency has largely escaped the cuts and firings seen at other agencies within the Department of Energy.) Can Virginia teach us how to regulate data centers? Still, policy options for protecting consumers remain largely unexplored both at the local and national levels. FERC has not yet issued a comprehensive set of regulations for data centers, and this yearfor the second year in a rowmost of the laws to explicitly regulate the burgeoning industry and protect consumers from the price shocks associated with soaring power demand did not make it through Virginias General Assembly. Too often, residents are left out of conversations about how data centers impact their daily liveswhether its increased noise, strain on infrastructure, or rising electric bills, said Del. Josh Thomas (D-Gainesville, Va.), in a Jan. 14 press briefing about proposed data center reforms within Virginia. Both houses of the Virginia state legislature passed bills that would have required localities to conduct a site assessment to gauge the impact of energy intensive facilitiesincluding data centerson noise, water, forests and cultural assets like parks and historical sites. During the legislative session, a representative from the Data Center Coalition told a House subcommittee that some of the proposed regulationrequiring a power-grid impact assessment before approving data center projects, for examplewould signal to major businesses that their time and their money may be best invested elsewhere, The Washington Post reported at the time. The Data Center Coalition represents 36 major companies in the data sector, including Amazon Web Services, Google, Microsoft and Meta. The bills were vetoed by the governor. One that was signed into law directs the State Corporation Commission, a state agency in charge of determining utility rates, to look into whether customerslike data centersare being charged correctly for their energy usage. (The Coalition did not respond to an email asking their views on the passed measures.) With Virginia still at the forefront of the data center industry, it may be the best place to learn how to regulate data centers and protect impacted communities. But so far, community activists do not see Virginia as a positive role model. My perspective is that its a cautionary tale, says Julie Bolthouse, director of land use at Piedmont Environmental Council, a Virginia-based environmental advocacy group. Honestly, Ive been very disheartened and jaded by the lack of action from Virginia compared to other states, especially around ratepayer protection. For now, as the data center industry continues its upward trajectory in Virginia and across the country, so too will the costs millions of Americans are quietly absorbing.
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E-Commerce
“I can’t believe it only took a week.” That’s what a nonprofit leader will say in 2030 after launching an AI-powered platform that reaches millions of people. Not through a huge team or a multi-million dollar grant, but with a handful of staff and volunteers, and the right AI strategy. This isn’t the melody of the future; it’s already happening. Organizations that start preparing now will hold a massive advantage, because tomorrow’s AI-native nonprofits won’t just operate faster. They’ll solve problems at a scale we’ve never seen before. The gap between AI-curious and AI-transformed Walk into most nonprofit Zoom calls today and you’ll find teams experimenting with ChatGPT for grant writing, and maybe a Zapier automation connecting their CRM to their email platform. A recent survey showed that nonprofits may be incorporating AI more quickly than private companies, as 58% of nonprofits are using it for communications (versus 47% for B2C companies). Also, 68% of nonprofits are leveraging AI for data analysis, higher than the 64% of B2C brands doing so. But there’s a canyon-sized gap between using AI tools and actually transforming how an organization works. Real transformation looks different. Take Operation Fistula, which uses predictive analytics to identify women most at risk of obstetric fistula in underserved regions. Its AI model helped target interventions five times more efficiently than traditional outreach methods. Or consider Amnesty International’s use of machine learning for satellite image analysis in Darfurtasks that previously took weeks now take hours. Yet for every success story, there are challenges that organizations must navigate carefully. Privacy concerns around beneficiary data, the digital divide that can exclude vulnerable populations, and the risk of algorithmic bias require responsible and ethical implementation strategies. 3 capabilities will define the future nonprofit workforce Imagine its 2030, and youre stepping into a social impact organization that has fully embraced AI. Not just as a set of tools, but as a new way of working, and built from the ground up with AI at its core. The most effective nonprofit teams wont be split into tech versus nontech silos. Instead, they’ll be organized around fluid, AI-enabled capabilities: Nontech specialists use general-purpose AI tools to enhance their core work-program officers who leverage AI for research synthesis, fundraisers who use it for donor analysis, and communications teams that employ it for multilingual content creation. Soft-tech builders understand workflows deeply enough to create lightweight automations within their domains. Think of a disaster response coordinator who builds an AI agent to monitor social media for crisis signals, or a volunteer coordinator who creates automated matching systems for skills-based volunteering. Tech orchestrators maintain the AI infrastructure, curate tool stacks, and develop the custom solutions that connect digital capabilities to real-world impact. These aren’t job titlesthey’re capabilities that successful organizations distribute across teams, empowering programs, fundraising, and operations alike. 5 archetypes emerging in the nonprofit landscape Looking across the sector and at more than 2,000 nonprofits registered at Tech To The Rescue (which includes over 100 AI projects), organizations are clustering into five distinct approaches to AI adoption: Pioneers are building AI-native impact organizations from the ground up. Tarjimly exemplifies this approach. Their machine learning platform scaled refugee translation services from hundreds to tens of thousands of conversations per month, serving 10 times more people with the same operational resources. Scalers are established organizations undergoing coordinated AI transformation, with dedicated roles for AI integration and systematic process redesign. Explorers are experimenting with custom toolsAI-powered demand forecasting, automated volunteer scheduling, predictive analytics for program targetingbut without strategic integration across departments. Starters represent the majority of the sector: organizations just beginning to use general-purpose AI tools but lacking internal structure or capacity for deeper transformation. Community-based organizations remain focused on direct human relationships, slower to adopt AI, but still benefitting through partnerships with tech-enabled organizations. Each archetype faces the same fundamental question: What processes to automate, and where to stay deeply human? The road to AI-native nonprofits The first wave of transformation is herenonprofits that recognized early how AI could fundamentally change their ability to serve vulnerable populations and unlock institutional knowledge at scale. Jacaranda Health demonstrates this approach: their AI-powered PROMPTS platform handles over 7,000 daily SMS messages from mothers across Sub-Saharan Africa, providing personalized maternal health guidance at just $0.74 per mother while identifying high-risk situations and triaging them to human agents within minutes. Ashoka transformed decades of institutional knowledge through AI. With nearly 20,000 pages of data from 4,000 social entrepreneur selection processes, they developed an AI tool that enables any staff member in 30 countries to explore their vast repository of social innovation insights through simple searches, rather than complex syntactic queries. Imagine the potential of organizations designed from the ground up for an AI realitywhere personalization, prediction, and automation aren’t added later, but form the DNA of every solution from day one. The implementation reality This transformation does not happen without aligned incentives and a serious acknowledgment of challenges and risks. Smart funders are shifting their approach, recognizing that organizations equipped to leverage AI effectively will create exponential impact per dollar invested. This means funding not just outcomes, but organizational capacity to transform: process standardization, team upskilling, and experimentation cyclesto ensure cross-disciplinary teams navigate the evolving AI governance landscape, manage cybersecurity risks, and ensure algorithmic fairness while maintaining community trust and data protection standards. For nonprofit leaders, the message is clear: Waiting for &8220;safe” templates is a luxury you can’t afford. Early movers aren’t just gaining operational advantagesthey’re setting the standards for what ambitious, AI-enabled impact looks like in their sectors. The future isn’t about AI replacing nonprofits; it’s about nonprofits reinventing themselves to operate at the scale our most pressing problems require. Climate change, inequality, and global health challenges need solutions that can reach millions, not thousands. The organizations that start building AI-native capabilities now will be the ones solving problems we can barely imagine today. If youre a funder or high-net-worth individual looking for leveragethis is it. AI-native nonprofits dont just need money; they need smart capital that accelerates experimentation, funds infrastructure, and backs the teams already proving whats possible. The next big leap in social impact will most probably come from funding the impact builders. Jacek Siadkowski is cofounder and CEO of Tech To The Rescue
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E-Commerce
Five years ago, we werent so divided as a business community on supporting a broad range of initiatives. However, since January, many U.S. companies have rolled back their DEI programs, including Chipotle, Comcast, Disney, GE, GM, Google, Intel, and Pepsi. Other companies, such as Nike and JPMorganChase are delaying the publication of their impact reports. Even an industry tentpole event, like the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity, this year was largely mum on DEI, when just three years ago it was the topic du jour. Reasonings ranged from legal challenges and internal pushback to economic factors and political scrutiny from the Trump administration. In the past, there was an unspoken policy that most businesses dont get politicala sentiment I dont disagree with. But the hard truth is the modern workforce is aware of whats going on in the world, and they see acquiescence or silence as being complicit. Some consumers have expressed their dissatisfaction through boycotts that have impacted major retailers such as Target, which saw a drop in sales and stock prices following its DEI rollback. Beyond the economic repercussions, companies need to realize that these sudden about-faces lead to uncertainty for their stakeholders. Instead of changing their values during times of chaos, companies need to stand true to their clarity of mission, culture, and communication. Clarity of missionstay true to your North Star At a time when organizations are being attacked from any side, companies must define what they stand for. Every ship must have a rudder and a course for a successful voyage. Thats even more important in a stormand make no mistake, we are in a storm. Its easy to get lost in balance sheets from quarter to quarterparticularly when budgets get tight. But organizations need to zoom out in terms of their business timeline. Administrations are temporary, but the goal is to court customers for life. Take Apple for example. The company has maintained its commitment that business should be a force for good by focusing on innovation, collaboration, and serving others. We believe that business, at its best, serves the public good, empowers people around the world, and binds us together as never before, said Apple CEO Tim Cook. Rather than shying away from various initiatives, Apple uses a portion of its investor relations page to highlight its work on education, accessibility, DEI, and the environment. And Apples investors agree with the companys course. Despite pressure from a conservative think tank, Apple shareholders in February rejected a proposal to eliminate the companys DEI program. It can be prudent to update methods or change tact, but companies should not change their destination or values. Cook conceded that as the legal landscape evolves, Apple may need to change some policies to comply, but the companys North Star of dignity and respect for everyone would remain. Every companys North Star is a little different, but consumers are watching for it. Clarity of cultureempower your employees and consumers The clearest way to keep your company aligned on values is maintaining its distinct culture; an organizations culture is one of the key experiential outcomes of its stated mission. While some companies are pulling back their DEI activities for fear of government or political retaliation, I would argue that customer and stakeholder sentiment is more impactful in the long run. For certain companies, like Ben & Jerrys, their customers are clear in supporting DEI initiatives. Other companies, like AB inBev pulled back its activities after the backlash and boycott following Bud Lights marketing partnership with transgender influencer Dylan Mulvaney. More recently, we see companies such as Delta Airlines maintaining their DEI policies, not just because of customers, but because of their talent and business pipeline. The company has always maintained that its inclusive policies have led to business growth, talent retention, and customer loyalty. Deltas website includes updated employment demographics and showcases the work it does to nurture aviators from underrepresented groups. In response to political backlash, Delta doubled down earlier this year, maintaining its steadfast support of its DEI efforts. The company highlights the importance of a company reflecting the backgrounds of the people it servesbecause businesses dont just operate in America or in red states or blue states. And business results underscore that distinction. Companies with higher DEI rates are more likely to outperform their competitors in profitability. Clarity of communicationtalk the talk while walking the walk Through all this turbulence and uncertainty, its integral to business success for companies collaborate with their staff and communicate with their customers. Organizations must ensure that what theyre doing is aligned not just with their corporate values, but community values too. Any misalignment must be addressed. And dont be subtle about it. Pick a lane and definitely communicate what youre doing. A clear, bold message leaves no room for misinterpretation and projects a necessary confidence in your business values and goals. Despite not having a corporate public relations team, Costco has been the most vocal example of clear stakeholder communication about its values. Costco maintained the price on its iconic $1.50 hot dog despite inflation causing prices to rise. The move firmly protected the wholesale retailers consumer culture and made customers feel like the company had their back. In January, Costco went viral on social media as the counterpoint to Target when it maintained its DEI policies. And once again, the results prove clearly communicating company values to customers translates to business wins. In addition to maintaining the support of shareholders who dont want the company to bend to activist investors, Costcos sales have continued to climb through the first half of 2025. Justin Tobin is founder and president of Gather.
Category:
E-Commerce
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