(NewsNation) — As the dog days of summer roll on, Americans are facing sticker shock over the cost of keeping cool.
Electricity prices have climbed twice as fast as the overall cost of living in the last year, according to a recent Consumer Price Index report.
According to the National Energy Assistance Directors Association, the average household power bill is expected to jump to nearly $800 from June to September — marking a 12-year record and a 6% increase from last year’s average.
Low-income Americans are struggling the most, and 29% of Americans are late on paying at least one bill, according to CivicScience data from March. The soaring costs have outpaced grocery prices, which have seen a sharp increase.
The federal government spends about $4 billion a year to help low-income families with their energy bills, but there are concerns President Donald Trump’s proposed budget could eliminate that assistance entirely.
What’s behind skyrocketing electricity bills?
Record-setting heat waves have pushed some power grids to the limit. And with roughly 40% of the nation’s electricity generated through using natural gas — the U.S. is the world’s biggest exporter — utility prices are climbing.
In some states, huge AI data centers are sucking up gigawatts of energy as supplies tighten.
The Trump administration recently released an “AI Action Plan,” which vowed to expedite permitting for the construction of energy-intensive data centers.
During the unveiling of the plan, Trump acknowledged the growing need for power to run these data centers, which are being built across the country by companies like Google, Amazon and Microsoft.
Experts have told NewsNation that a 5-gigawatt data center could use more energy in a year than several states — but they insist Big Tech growth isn’t solely to blame for the recent price increases.
Another explanation is the cost of improvements to the nation’s aging electrical grid, which utility companies pay and then pass on to their customers.
One way to take back control of energy costs is to utilize clean energy resources, including renewables like solar power, to help rein in runaway prices.
NewsNation’s Meg Hilling contributed to this report.
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Author: Markie Martin
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