Energy bill burdens grow
Marketplace
Marketplace
4.6 • 8.5K Ratings
🗓️ 29 January 2026
⏱️ 26 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Electricity prices have increased by approximately 40% since 2021, far outpacing inflation. Despite AI data centers making headlines as energy-suckers, that price growth comes from a multitude of factors — including upticks in demand and aging infrastructure. In this episode, you aren’t alone in energy bill price hikes. Plus: Caterpillar benefits from all that AI infrastructure investment, private equity eyes a new form of health care, and salary “lowballing” in a tough job market may be tempting.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Your electric bill is going up, but how much are AI data centers really to blame? |
| 0:07.0 | Plus, could low-balling yourself help you get a job? |
| 0:11.0 | From American Public Media, this is Marketplace. |
| 0:18.0 | In Washington, I'm Kimberly Adams in for Kyrisdahl. |
| 0:25.0 | It's Thursday, January the 29th. Good to have you along. |
| 0:28.7 | If you've noticed that your electric bill has been creeping up these past few years, you're in very good company. |
| 0:34.9 | According to the nonprofit power lines, electric and gas utilities asked for permission to increase rates by $31 billion last year. |
| 0:44.2 | That's double what they asked for the year before, and in most cases, those rate increases were approved. |
| 0:50.6 | Marketplace's Sabree Beneshaw takes a look at why this is happening. |
| 0:54.2 | Osiris Bali lives in Little Rock, Arkansas, and his electricians. Marketplace's Sabree Beneshore takes a look at why this is happening. |
| 1:02.7 | Osiris Bali lives in Little Rock, Arkansas, and his electric and gas bills are about to explode again. |
| 1:10.0 | We're all experiencing this winter storm, and you have no choice but to run the heat all day long, especially if you have children. |
| 1:13.8 | Completely aside from the storm, his bills have already been rising. But this went up, you know, a few hundred dollars over the last few years for gas and electricity |
| 1:19.0 | here. He is annoyed that the Public Service Commission keeps approving the utility's rate increases. |
| 1:25.2 | A lot of corporate welfare, I'll say. Every utility market is different, but overall, electricity and natural gas are among the biggest |
| 1:32.5 | drivers of inflation, according to nonprofit power lines. |
| 1:36.1 | Charles Huah is executive director. |
| 1:38.3 | Utility bills have gone up about 40% of the last five years. |
| 1:42.2 | It's not just because of data centers, which are geographically concentrated. |
| 1:46.1 | In fact, in a lot of places, it's not even mostly because of data centers. |
| 1:49.8 | Our grid is getting old. |
| 1:51.1 | We're not using it efficiently. |
... |
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