Tech giants like NVIDIA Corp. (NASDAQ:NVDA), Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ:MSFT) and Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) are thriving amid what market strategist Larry McDonald calls a "middle-class rip-off," as electricity costs tied to AI data centers soar.
- NVDA stock just reached an all-time high. See all the details here.
McDonald warned about the prosperity of AI being unevenly distributed in a social media post.
Read Next: President Trump Lights Up Cannabis Stocks With Pro-CBD Truth Social Post
"ALERT – Nvidia $NVDA – Microsoft $MSFT, and META’s $META growth trajectory is dependent on this sustained middle-class rip-off charade," McDonald wrote on X.
McDonald's warning highlights how rapid AI adoption, run on Nvidia's chips and Meta's sprawling infrastructure, is straining the energy grid.
Wholesale power prices in areas near major data center clusters have climbed as much as 267% over the past five years, according to Bloomberg.
The price spike is not fully absorbed by corporations, and the cost gets passed down to households and smaller businesses while the power fuels tech sector profits.
Read Next: Rigetti, D-Wave, IonQ Set To Disrupt Everything—Expert Goes All In
Training large-scale AI models requires colossal amounts of electricity, and with Microsoft also scaling its data operations, demand keeps soaring.
The result is that families face higher energy bills while companies like Nvidia enjoy record demand for GPUs, and Meta reaps the benefits of immersive AI-driven platforms.
Power Suppliers
Power companies are also profiting from the surge in energy demand tied to AI.
Utilities and grid operators such as NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE), Duke Energy Corp. (NYSE:DUK) and Dominion Energy, Inc. (NYSE:D), are also positioned to benefit, as soaring electricity consumption from data centers boosts revenues.
Independent power producers like Constellation Energy Corp. (NASDAQ:CEG) and Vistra Corp. (NYSE:VST) are also capitalizing by supplying wholesale electricity at elevated prices.
Consumers bear the brunt of inflating bills while both Wall Street rides the same wave of AI-driven demand that fuels Nvidia, Meta and Microsoft, underscoring how deeply the energy burden is being redistributed.
Read Next:
Photo: Shutterstock
