Electricity bills keep climbing, and politicians and pundits are searching for someone to blame. Data centers have become a popular scapegoat — a narrative the Taxpayers Protection Alliance has been busy debunking.

Others point the finger at utilities, arguing they are incentivized to build more and spend more to goose a guaranteed rate of return on the capital they invest in infrastructure. Former Director of the U.S. Department of Energy’s Loan Programs Office Jigar Shah made that case in a recent Newsweek op-ed. Meanwhile, as Shah himself notes, proposals in some states would allow utilities to own and operate regulated generation alongside independent power producers.