AI and your skyrocketing electric bill

Are you shocked by your electric bill? Rates are expected to keep rising across our region. AI data centers are straining the power grid, some say, leaving consumers to foot the bill.

PJM, the nation’s largest electric grid operator, serving Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware, and several other states, projects that AI alone could consume 5,000 megawatt-hours of electricity annually. To meet that demand, we would need to build the equivalent of five nuclear power plants every year.

Some experts argue that PJM has been too slow in approving new power projects. Additionally, President Trump’s rollback of renewable energy initiatives has further stalled the growth of new energy production.

So what’s going wrong with our current energy system—and how can we possibly meet this ever-growing demand?

Guests:

Patrick Cicero -Former Consumer Advocate for Pennsylvania. He’s of counsel at the Pennsylvania Utility Law Project

Abe Silverman – Assistant Research Scholar, Ralph O’Connor Sustainable Energy Institute at Johns Hopkins University. He was general counsel and executive policy counsel for the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities