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What AI data centers are doing to your electric bill

Overview

Shownote

Highlights

Transcript

Chapters

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What AI data centers are doing to your electric bill

Planet Money

2025/12/20
Planet Money

Planet Money

2025/12/20
OverviewShownoteHighlightsTranscriptChaptersPins

Shownote

As a country, we are spending more to get data centers up and running than we spent to build the entire interstate highway system. (Yes, that’s inflation-adjusted.) With tech companies spending hundreds of billions of dollars on AI, data centers have kind ...

Highlights

In rural Ohio, a quiet shift is reshaping the energy landscape—one that’s hitting household budgets harder than ever. What started as a personal question about a rising electric bill opens a window into a much larger story about technology, infrastructure, and who pays for progress.
09:24
Data centers may fail or under-perform, causing residential customers to bear the cost
24:51
The arrival of numerous data centers has increased electricity demand, causing the capacity market to struggle as supply may not meet the new demand.
27:53
PJM's generation prices increased tenfold due to data center demand

Chapters

Why Did This Couple’s Electric Bill Suddenly Double?
00:00
Who Decides How Much We Pay for Electricity—and Why?
09:24
How Data Centers Are Reshaping the Power Grid (and Your Bill)
15:35
What Happens When Deregulation Meets an AI Power Surge?
24:51
Can the Grid Keep Up with So Much New Demand?
27:53
Where Do $12 Billion in Energy Payments Actually Go?
30:56

Transcript

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