AI needs a lot of energy — and a new Bloomberg investigation has found that those soaring costs are being passed on to consumers who live near data centers.

On today’s Big Take podcast, host David Gura talks to Bloomberg reporters Josh Saul and Leonardo Nicoletti about the AI boom’s impact on power bills, how utility companies are handling surging demand and the implications for communities with centers in their backyards.

Read more: AI Data Centers Are Sending Power Bills Soaring

AI needs a lot of energy &mdash; and a new Bloomberg investigation has found that those soaring costs are being passed on to consumers who live near data centers.
On today&rsquo;s Big Take podcast, host David Gura talks to Bloomberg reporters Josh Saul and Leonardo Nicoletti about the AI boom&rsquo;s impact on power bills, how utility companies are handling surging demand and the implications for communities with centers in their backyards.
Read more:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/graphics/2025-ai-data-centers-electricity-prices/?srnd=undefined">AI Data Centers Are Sending Power Bills Soaring</a>

Zero is about the tactics and technologies taking us to a world of zero emissions. Each week Bloomberg’s award-winning reporter Akshat Rathi talks to the people tackling climate change – a venture capitalist hunting for the best cleantech investment, scientists starting companies, politicians who have successfully created climate laws, and CEOs who have completely transformed their businesses. The road to zero emissions has many paths and everyone’s got an opinion about the best route. Listen in.

Zero: The Climate Race

Zero

Big Take: AI data centers use a lot of energy. You may be paying for it

https://api.omny.fm/orgs/e73c998e-6e60-432f-8610-ae210140c5b1/clips/d3af80ee-930d-4ab8-8cd1-b36a016d75b6/transcript

What is the best way to tell a climate story? This week on Zero, Akshat Rathi speaks with Booker Prize-winning novelist George Saunders. His new novel Vigil is an exploration of guilt, told on the deathbed of an oil executive haunted by ghosts.

Rathi asks Saunders what he learned about climate change, his thoughts on whether AI complements or compromises human creativity, and why literature still matters in the era of TikTok.

Explore further:
In ‘Vigil,’ George Saunders Asks: Can An Oil CEO Repent? — Bloomberg
The Great Derangement: Climate Change and the Unthinkable — Amitav Ghosh

Other episodes in the Imagine series:
Building Monuments to the End of Oil — Kuwaiti artist Monira Al Qadiri
Abundance or Adequacy? Search for Better Climate Solutions — Sci-fi bestseller Kim Stanley Robinson

Zero is a production of Bloomberg Green. Our producer is Oscar Boyd. Special thanks to Gautam Naik, Sommer Saadi, Mohsis Andam, Sharon Chen and Laura Millan. Thoughts or suggestions? Email us at zeropod@bloomberg.net. For more coverage of climate change and solutions, visit https://www.bloomberg.com/green.

What is the best way to tell a climate story? This week on Zero, Akshat Rathi speaks with Booker Prize-winning novelist George Saunders. His new novel Vigil is an exploration of guilt, told on the deathbed of an oil executive haunted by ghosts.
Rathi asks Saunders what he learned about climate change, his thoughts on whether AI complements or compromises human creativity, and why literature still matters in the era of TikTok.
Explore further:
<ul>
<li aria-level="1"><a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-01-23/an-oil-ceo-s-reckoning-is-at-the-heart-of-george-saunders-vigil">In &lsquo;Vigil,&rsquo; George Saunders Asks: Can An Oil CEO Repent?</a> &mdash; Bloomberg</li>
<li aria-level="1"><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9eFT_eb_jRk">The Great Derangement: Climate Change and the Unthinkable</a> &mdash; Amitav Ghosh</li>
</ul>
Other episodes in the Imagine series:
<ul>
<li><a href="https://omny.fm/shows/zero/building-monuments-to-the-end-of-oil">Building Monuments to the End of Oil</a> &mdash; Kuwaiti artist Monira Al Qadiri</li>
<li><a href="https://omny.fm/shows/zero/abundance-adequacy-and-the-hunt-for-better-climate-solutions">Abundance or Adequacy? Search for Better Climate Solutions</a> &mdash; Sci-fi bestseller Kim Stanley Robinson</li>
</ul>
Zero is a production of Bloomberg Green. Our producer is Oscar Boyd. Special thanks to Gautam Naik, Sommer Saadi, Mohsis Andam, Sharon Chen and Laura Millan. Thoughts or suggestions? Email us at zeropod@bloomberg.net. For more coverage of climate change and solutions, visit <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/green">https://www.bloomberg.com/green</a>.

George Saunders goes inside the mind of a climate denier: Imagine series

https://api.omny.fm/orgs/e73c998e-6e60-432f-8610-ae210140c5b1/clips/1cff1043-b0d8-49ab-b5ca-b3e000fe5219/transcript

Decarbonizing energy is just one part of the climate story. The other half is electrifying as much as possible. That is why electrification, not decarbonization, is likely going to be the most important climate story of 2026.

Kingsmill Bond is a strategist at thinktank Ember and the author of a paper called the Electrotech Revolution. This week on Zero, Bond tells Akshat Rathi why he believes electrification is inevitable, and what happens to those that are left behind.

Explore further:
India Is Electrifying Faster Than China Using Cheap Green Tech
Read Ember's Electric Revolution report.
Read Ember's analysis of India's electrification.
Read Bloomberg's Bottlenecks series.

Zero is a production of Bloomberg Green. Our producer is Oscar Boyd. Special thanks to Sommer Saadi, Mohsis Andam, Sharon Chen and Laura Millan. Thoughts or suggestions? Email us at zeropod@bloomberg.net. For more coverage of climate change and solutions, visit https://www.bloomberg.com/green.

Decarbonizing energy is just one part of the climate story. The other half is electrifying as much as possible. That is why electrification, not decarbonization, is likely going to be the most important climate story of 2026.
Kingsmill Bond is a strategist at thinktank Ember and the author of a paper called the Electrotech Revolution. This week on Zero, Bond tells Akshat Rathi why he believes electrification is inevitable, and what happens to those that are left behind.
Explore further:
<ul>
<li aria-level="1"><a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-01-22/india-is-electrifying-faster-than-china-using-cheap-green-tech">India Is Electrifying Faster Than China Using Cheap Green Tech</a></li>
<li aria-level="1">Read Ember's Electric Revolution&nbsp;<a href="https://www.electrotech-revolution.com/p/the-electrotech-revolution">report</a>.</li>
<li aria-level="1">Read Ember's <a href="https://ember-energy.org/latest-insights/indias-electrotech-fast-track-where-china-built-on-coal-india-is-building-on-sun/">analysis</a> of India's electrification.</li>
<li aria-level="1">Read Bloomberg's <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/latest/bottlenecks?sref=jjXJRDFv">Bottlenecks series</a>.</li>
</ul>
Zero is a production of Bloomberg Green. Our producer is Oscar Boyd. Special thanks to Sommer Saadi, Mohsis Andam, Sharon Chen and Laura Millan. Thoughts or suggestions? Email us at zeropod@bloomberg.net. For more coverage of climate change and solutions, visit <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/green">https://www.bloomberg.com/green</a>.

Electrification – not decarbonization – is the climate story of 2026

https://api.omny.fm/orgs/e73c998e-6e60-432f-8610-ae210140c5b1/clips/fabc5bb0-d3b0-488b-9190-b3d900d96118/transcript

For the last decade, since the Paris Agreement was signed, governments have been trying to nudge big financial players to move more money into climate solutions. The idea was to drive action through data disclosure and net-zero goals, but that hasn’t yielded the results they hoped for. Have we got our approach to climate finance wrong? Lisa Sachs, director of Columbia University’s Center on Sustainable Investment, makes the case this week on the Zero podcast. 

Explore further:
Mark Carney’s full Tragedy of the Horizon speech - Bank of England
There’s a $10 Trillion Antidote to Trump’s Climate Backlash - Bloomberg 
Best Coffee Substitute? We Gave "Beanless" Brands a Try - Bloomberg 


Zero is a production of Bloomberg Green. Our producer is Oscar Boyd. Special thanks to Alastair Marsh, Sommer Saadi, Mohsis Andam, Sharon Chen and Laura Millan. Thoughts or suggestions? Email us at zeropod@bloomberg.net. For more coverage of climate change and solutions, visit https://www.bloomberg.com/green.

For the last decade, since the Paris Agreement was signed, governments have been trying to nudge big financial players to move more money into climate solutions. The idea was to drive action through data disclosure and net-zero goals, but that hasn&rsquo;t yielded the results they hoped for. Have we got our approach to climate finance wrong? Lisa Sachs, director of Columbia University&rsquo;s Center on Sustainable Investment, makes the case this week on the Zero podcast.&nbsp;
Explore further:
<ul>
<li aria-level="1"><a href="https://www.bankofengland.co.uk/speech/2015/breaking-the-tragedy-of-the-horizon-climate-change-and-financial-stability">Mark Carney&rsquo;s full Tragedy of the Horizon speech - Bank of England</a></li>
<li aria-level="1"><a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/graphics/2025-climate-tech-investments-data-emissions-energy-capacity/">There&rsquo;s a $10 Trillion Antidote to Trump&rsquo;s Climate Backlash - Bloomberg</a>&nbsp;</li>
<li aria-level="1"><a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2025-05-30/best-coffee-substitute-we-gave-beanless-brands-a-try?srnd=phx-green&amp;embedded-checkout=true">Best Coffee Substitute? We Gave "Beanless" Brands a Try - Bloomberg</a>&nbsp;</li>
</ul>
 Zero is a production of Bloomberg Green. Our producer is Oscar Boyd. Special thanks to Alastair Marsh, Sommer Saadi, Mohsis Andam, Sharon Chen and Laura Millan. Thoughts or suggestions? Email us at zeropod@bloomberg.net. For more coverage of climate change and solutions, visit <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/green">https://www.bloomberg.com/green</a>.

Did we get climate finance all wrong? 

https://api.omny.fm/orgs/e73c998e-6e60-432f-8610-ae210140c5b1/clips/8b9c6e25-37d4-4b4d-b0c6-b3d200a52811/transcript

Big Take: AI data centers use a lot of energy. You may be paying for it

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