Ben Havumaki, a principal associate with Synapse and one of the authors of the study, said there are still too many unanswered questions about the financial impact on customers.
“Our review of all of the available evidence supports the view that customers’ rates and bills are already higher,” Havumaki said. “As a result of these data center investments and possibly up to eleven dollars per month higher already.”
Havumaki said researchers could only use public information because many agreements are confidential.
"We cannot just take them for their word. We need some evidence," he said. "I think extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence. And so far, we have not seen any evidence, we have just seen claims."
Much of the study’s critique centers on Senate Bill 2001, which lawmakers approved in 2024. According to researchers, the law streamlines Entergy Mississippi’s ability to build new power infrastructure for large industrial customers, including data centers, while limiting how much oversight the Mississippi Public Service Commission can exercise.
Yolanda Daniels, a member of Environmental Advocates Mississippi, said the organization commissioned the report because residents deserve a clearer picture of how major utility decisions could affect their monthly bills.
"We believed it necessary to have the public understand exactly how costs were being incurred as well as allocated to ratepayers," Daniels said.
She said the goal is to give residents the context they need to ask informed questions.
"Our goal is really to bring transparency to a very opaque, murky set of information," Daniels said. “And so, our goal is just to bring the conversation to the public so that they are aware and that they understand how to engage in conversation with their legislators, with their advocates, and they understand the real-world implication of decisions that have been made. On their economic and financial interests.”
Daniels said the broader debate goes beyond individual projects and reflects how Mississippi makes long term energy choices. Supporters of data center development point to economic potential, while others worry about the cost of the infrastructure needed to power those facilities. She said transparency is essential so residents can weigh these tradeoffs for themselves.
In a statement to Mississippi Public Broadcasting, an Entergy Mississippi spokesperson pushed back on the report’s findings.
"Entergy Mississippi customers are not subsidizing data centers. They are benefiting from them."
The company says data center clients are paying their full share of infrastructure costs and, by adding large new users to the system, are helping spread expenses across more customers. Entergy Mississippi also says residential rates are projected to be sixteen percent lower by 2030 because of the investment and demand created by these facilities.
Researchers recommend stronger consumer protections and increase public disclosure related to utility spending for data center projects. They say that as Mississippi works to attract larger technology investments, the state needs clearer rules to ensure that customers are not unknowingly absorbing financial risks.
Supporters and critics both acknowledge that the growth of data centers will shape the state’s energy landscape. The question now is whether the long-term economic gains promised by Entergy Mississippi will truly outweigh the near-term financial pressures that some households may already be experiencing, and whether residents will have enough information to judge those tradeoffs for themselves.
