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Center for AI and Technology

About the Center for AI and Technology

Independent Women’s Center for AI and Technology embraces the transformative power of technology for our economy and the imperative for the U.S. to lead the world in its development and adoption. 

We believe in technology’s power to unleash human creativity, expand opportunity, and improve our lives. New technologies like AI present challenges that thoughtful policy can address without a heavy-handed approach that hampers innovation. 

Grounded in free-enterprise principles, we believe that industries should be free to produce and invest in goods and services for society and for entrepreneurs to innovate free from burdensome laws and regulations or unfair foreign trade restrictions. We also seek to correct public misunderstandings about technology development while supporting efforts to protect Americans’ interests in safety, privacy, and economic stability.

Letter from the Director

May 4, 2026

 

Welcome to Independent Women’s Center for AI and Technology!

I am thrilled to announce the launch of our new Center for AI and Technology at Independent Women. Grounded in free-enterprise principles, our center embraces the transformative power of technology and the imperative for the United States to lead the world in its development and adoption.

While ensuring privacy, parental rights and child safety, we believe technology unleashes human creativity, expands opportunity, and improves our lives. We see that thoughtful tech policy can address emerging challenges without punitive regulation that stifles innovation. Our work spans four key areas: developing safe artificial intelligence governance frameworks; promoting competition and consumer safety in financial services, including cryptocurrency and digital banking; reforming healthcare policy and strengthening scientific integrity; and advancing foundational infrastructure policy across telecommunications, energy, and data centers.

We are committed to correcting public misunderstandings about technology while protecting Americans’ safety, privacy, and economic stability. We are so glad you are here and look forward to working alongside you.

Warmly,

Carrie Sheffield
Director, Center for AI and Technology

Myth + Fact

Myth.

AI Data Centers Are Driving Up Electricity Prices for Americans

Throughout human history, new technology can raise fears of the unknown as innovative trailblazers forge new paths. The rapid expansion of data centers for artificial intelligence (AI) is leading to fears that these centers will raise electricity prices for ratepayers. Some states and cities are proposing moratoriums on new AI data centers, while others are imposing stringent environmental and cost requirements.

Fact.

There Is No Established Tie Between Data Centers and Rising Electricity Prices

Research from the Institute for Energy Research (IER) found no statistical significance between the number of data centers in a state and its electricity prices. The 10 states with the most data centers, including Virginia, Texas, California, Illinois, and Ohio, averaged electricity prices at 14.46 cents per kilowatt-hour. This is nearly identical to the 14.39 cents per kilowatt-hour average across all other states. If data centers drive up electric bills, there would be a significant difference. What explains rising electricity rates? IER and Always On Energy Research’s Blue States, High Rates report points to state-level energy policies, particularly mandates, subsidies, and premature plant retirements favored by blue-state legislatures, as better explanations. Ironically, many of the same states imposing costly new requirements on data centers are the ones whose energy policies are real price drivers.

Source: New Study: Data Centers Aren’t Driving Up Electricity Prices