Governments have three choices, Ribera said: Do nothing, and risk rising economic and societal conflict as “prices are getting higher and higher” due to increasing demand; impose a moratorium on data center construction, as seen in some parts of the United States; or make operators provide their own energy.
Tech majors, she argued, can afford to deal with the third option.
“The companies behind this business are… concentrating market power and capacity in amounts that have not been perceived ever before. So, boldly speaking, they can be demanded to invest in what they may be needing and how it prevents additional conflicts with local communities,” she said in an interview.
Asked if the EU should force Big Tech to pay for its own clean power supply, Ribera said: “I think that we should do so.”
Her comments come as the Commission continues working on new energy efficiency standards for data centers. The EU executive’s energy chief, Dan Jørgensen, earlier this year insisted that companies seeking to build data centers in Europe must commit to the continent’s climate and energy goals.
In contrast, the European Data Centre Association’s president, Lex Coors, pushed back on this in June, telling POLITICO that Europe must prioritize artificial intelligence over its immediate climate ambitions or risk surrendering its tech sovereignty to China.
