Emily Kwong

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Here's the show.

You're listening to Shortwave from NPR.

Hi, short wavers.

Emily Kwong here with NPR alum, now independent science writer, one of our favorite reporters on the planet, Dan Charles.

Hey, Dan.

OK, you've brought us basically a mystery novel, something about money and power.

Yes, these are the buildings that are full of computing equipment and are seeing a rapid increase in construction to power AI.

You've been poking around in them, huh?

Yeah, that's a real concern.

I was just reading there's this analysis from Carnegie Mellon University and North Carolina State University found that electric bills are on track to rise an average of 8 percent nationwide by 2030 and as much as 25 percent in places like Virginia because of data centers and cryptocurrency mining.

So he's clearly dazzled by how the grid has changed.

Oh, wow.

My guess is it's people like us, Dan, people who pay our utility bill.

Today on the show, what's coming to light about how utility customers like you and I are footing the bill to bring data centers online?

I'm Emily Kwong.

Okay, Dan, let's back up a little bit with Mike here.