NPR.

Recently, Senator Bernie Sanders and Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez introduced a bill to

Paul's new AI data center construction. Among their complaints, electricity

costs. People's energy bills around the country are skyrocketing in order to pay for these

AI data centers for them. Over the last five years, electricity prices have more than tripled

in areas close to data centers.

That's according to Bloomberg.

These price rises have contributed to local opposition blocking billions of dollars' worth of data centers.

And this week, Maine's House passed initial approval on pausing most data center construction in the state.

Both the Senate and governor support the bill, so it's expected to pass.

Jay Jaya Syria is a utilities consultant, and he says that data centers are a scapegoat for

longstanding issues in the electricity market.

I think data centers are a factor, but to say that they're the ones solely responsible

for higher electricity prices, I think

is perhaps misleading.

So who's right?

This is the indicator from Planet Money.

I'm Darien Woods.

And I'm Waylon Wong.

Today on the show, data centers and your power bill.

We excavate years of underinvestment in the grid and ask whether the current wave of AI data centers and your power bill. We excavate years of underinvestment in the grid

and ask whether the current wave of AI data centers could possibly even help.

...