What AI data centers are doing to your electric bill
Planet Money20 Dec 2025

What AI data centers are doing to your electric bill

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 of become the thing in the US economy.

But along with that growth have come a lot of questions. Like where is all the electricity to run these data centers supposed to come from? And how much are residential customers’ electric bills increasing as a result?

On today’s episode, we go to Ohio to trace one electric bill back to its source, to see what exactly is causing the big price increases people are seeing. We take a tour of a data center hot spot, and get to the bottom of how prices are set from inside the power company.

Related episodes:
- Asking for a friend … which jobs are safe from AI?
- No AI data centers in my backyard!
- What $10 billion in data centers actually gets you
- Is AI overrated or underrated?
- Green energy gridlock

Pre-order the Planet Money book and get a free gift. / Subscribe to Planet Money+

Listen free: Apple Podcasts, Spotify, the NPR app or anywhere you get podcasts.

Facebook / Instagram / TikTok / Our weekly Newsletter.

Today's show was hosted by Keith Romer and Jeff Guo. It was produced by Sam Yellowhorse Kesler. It was edited by Jess Jiang and fact checked by Sierra Juarez and Vito Emanuel. It was engineered by Cena Loffredo. Alex Goldmark is Planet Money's executive producer.

See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.

NPR Privacy Policy

Det här avsnittet är hämtat från ett öppet RSS-flöde och publiceras inte av Podme. Det kan innehålla reklam.

Avsnitt(355)

Why is there a supplement craze if they don’t even work?

Why is there a supplement craze if they don’t even work?

One reason the $70 billion supplement industry is set to double in the next seven years? Lax regulation.On today's show, we tell the story of a century-long battle between the U.S. government and … yo...

5 Juni 34min

There's no business like dough business

There's no business like dough business

Have you ever walked around a street, mall, or airport and noticed two or three of the same franchise restaurant within walking distance? Why might one Starbucks or McDonald’s or Wetzel’s Pretzels som...

3 Juni 27min

The sneaky way companies get new chemicals into our food

The sneaky way companies get new chemicals into our food

99% of chemicals in our food right now were added without FDA approval. Many were added in secret, through a sneaky loophole built into the 1958 Food Additives Amendment.It was supposed to require FDA...

29 Maj 35min

The leaked tapes that show how the rich avoid taxes

The leaked tapes that show how the rich avoid taxes

Tax avoidance -- that is, legally reducing your tax bill -- is as American as apple pie. But the line between tax avoidance and tax evasion is often a grey one. On today’s show, a collaboration with T...

27 Maj 26min

The giant factory town that might be a giant mistake

The giant factory town that might be a giant mistake

How does a poor country become a rich country? There's a simple blueprint — or at least, that's what many economists used to believe. But over the years, a lot of rapidly developing economies have sta...

22 Maj 26min

Vacation and why Americans take so little

Vacation and why Americans take so little

Do you work more for more money? Or work less for more time? For some, this is the ultimate economic choice. Every single worker in the European Union is guaranteed four weeks of paid vacation. No mat...

20 Maj 25min

Jerome Powell and the Future of Fed Independence

Jerome Powell and the Future of Fed Independence

If you have a credit card, hope to buy a house, or just want stable grocery prices – let’s talk about the future of Fed independence!It’s impossibly important for the Federal Reserve to steer monetary...

15 Maj 28min

The secret meeting that launched OPEC

The secret meeting that launched OPEC

Recently, a listener wrote in with a question about OPEC and oil prices. She was prepping for a camping trip… thinking about how much it costs to fill up her diesel-guzzling camper van at the pump. “...

13 Maj 27min

Populärt inom Business & ekonomi

framgangspodden
varvet
badfluence
rss-borsens-finest
uppgang-och-fall
avanzapodden
rss-dagen-med-di
24fragor
rss-inga-dumma-fragor-om-pengar
lastbilspodden
borsmorgon
fill-or-kill
rss-kort-lang-analyspodden-fran-di
bathina-en-podcast
tabberaset
kapitalet-en-podd-om-ekonomi
market-makers
bilar-med-sladd
affarsvarlden
rss-usa-lounge-loungepodden