Marketplace All-in-One

Data centers and your electric bill

Dec 19, 2025
Electricity prices are rising rapidly, up 6.9% year-over-year, prompting Senate Democrats to investigate the effects of data centers on consumer bills. These energy-intensive facilities, powering everything from AI to crypto, could potentially shift costs onto users as they demand costly grid upgrades. Insights reveal regional variations in housing markets and TikTok's compliance strategies also add to the discussion. The interplay of tech firms and rising utility costs raises questions about transparency and consumer impact.
Ask episode
AI Snips
Chapters
Transcript
Episode notes
INSIGHT

Data Centers Are Driving Future Power Pressure

  • Electricity prices rose 6.9% year over year and are being pushed higher by growing demand from data centers and other tech uses.
  • Analysts expect data centers to likely contribute more to higher power prices by 2030, though current effects vary by region and project.
INSIGHT

Upgrades Spread Costs Across Customers

  • Utilities are investing billions in infrastructure upgrades and then spreading those costs across all customers.
  • How much a data center affects your bill depends on local factors like the type of upgrade and regional contracts.
INSIGHT

Attribution Of Price Increases Is Unclear

  • It's difficult to isolate how much specific causes, like data centers, raise power prices right now.
  • Regional drivers such as wildfire-related transmission work or a new data center in Virginia or Texas make attribution unclear.
Get the Snipd Podcast app to discover more snips from this episode
Get the app