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   If you ask ChatGPT why your energy bill is higher, it should probably blame   
   itself   
      
   Date:   
   Mon, 28 Jul 2025 18:01:01 +0000   
      
   Description:   
   Energy costs are rising for some consumers, and AI might be the root cause.   
      
   FULL STORY   
   ======================================================================   
      
   Hate to be a 'Debbie Downer' but all those prompts we're using to make action   
   figures, Ghibli memes, and the countless less exciting life and business   
   prompts we're stuffing into ChatGPT and other popular generative AI systems   
   are coming at a cost, and one that may be landing on our doorsteps.    
      
   Don't get me wrong, I'm a huge fan of AI as I think it's the first technology   
   in a generation to have truly society-altering implications but, if you're   
   like me, you've been reading for some time about the ultra-high energy costs   
   associated with Large Language Models (LLMs), especially trianing them, which   
   according to the IEEE , "involves thousands of graphics processing units   
   (GPUs) running continuously for months."    
      
   AI model training is resource-intensive. Compared to traditional programming,   
   it's like the difference between playing checkers and interdimensional chess   
   against all the galaxies in the Star Trek universe. The number of parameters   
   these systems examine to learn the essence of something, so they can    
   instantly recognize a dog or a tree, because the models understand what makes   
   up a dog or a tree, is, in human terms, almost inconceivable.    
      
   AI understanding is so much more complex than pattern matching. And not only   
   do these models need to understand these things, they also need to know how    
   to replicate representations of trees, dogs, cars, people, and scenarios, and   
   realistically at that.   
      
   Feeding the AI monster    
      
   It's a heavy lift , and as Penn State Institute of Energy and the Environment   
   noted in its April 2025 report , "By 20302035, data centers could account for   
   20% of global electricity use, putting an immense strain on power grids."    
      
   However, those energy costs are rising in real time now, and what I never   
   really accounted for is how energy availability is a sort of zero-sum game.   
   There's only so much of it, and when some part of the grid is eating more    
   than its fair share, the remaining customers have to divvy up what's left and   
   shoulder skyrocketing costs to keep backfilling their energy needs (as well    
   as the energy needs of the data centers).    
      
   In the US, we're seeing this scenario play out in our pocketbooks as,   
   according to PJM Interconnection (one of the country's largest energy   
   suppliers), energy bills are rising in response to AI's overwhelming energy   
   demands .    
      
   Data centers, which are dotted across the US , are often responsible for   
   serving the cloud-based intelligence needs of systems like ChatGPT , Gemini ,   
   Copilot , Meta AI , and others. The need for supporting live responses and   
   fresh training to keep the models in step with current information is putting   
   pressure on our creaky energy infrastructure.    
      
   PJM, it seems, is spreading the cost of supporting these Data Centers across   
   the network, and it's hitting customers to the tune of, according to this   
   report, as much as a 20% increase in their energy bills.   
      
   In need of a solution yesterday   
      
   Because we live on AI Time , there is no easy solution. AI development isn't   
   slowing down to wait for a long-term solution, with OpenAI's GPT-5 expected   
   soon, Agentic AI on the rise, and Artificial General Intelligence on the   
   horizon.    
      
   As a result, energy demand will surely rise faster than we can backfill with   
   better energy management, improved infrastructure, and new resources. The   
   International Energy Agency predicts that in the US, "power consumption by   
   data centers is on course to account for almost half of the growth in   
   electricity demand between now and 2030."    
      
   The issue is exacerbated by a faltering energy infrastructure in which older   
   energy plants are becoming less reliable, and some new rules that restrict    
   the use of fossil fuels. Most experts agree that renewable resources like   
   solar and wind could help here, but that picture is recently far less sunny.   
      
   Tilting at wind mill farms   
      
   Earlier this month, the Trump Administration issued an Executive Order to   
   "terminate the clean electricity production and investment tax credits for   
   wind and solar facilities." President Trump famously hates Windmill farms,   
   calling them " garbage ."    
      
   As the US pumps the brakes on clean and renewable resources, the current grid   
   will continue to huff and puff its way through supporting untold numbers of   
   meme-generating prompts, requests for business proposal summaries, and AI   
   videos featuring people eating cats that turn into pasta (yes, that's a thing).   
      
   At home, we'll be opening our latest electricity bills and wondering why the   
   energy bill's too damn high. Perhaps we'll power up ChatGPT and ask in a   
   prompt for an explanation. One could only hope that it points you back to    
   this article, but that seems equally unlikely.   
      
   ======================================================================   
   Link to news story:   
   https://www.techradar.com/ai-platforms-assistants/if-you-ask-chatgpt-why-your-   
   energy-bill-is-higher-it-should-probably-blame-itself   
      
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