A brutal, sustained cold snap that affected millions of people across the United States had barely begun receding when a secondary impact hit, according to USA Today.
What's happening?
In mid-January, an extreme weather event spread bitter cold across most of North America, a freeze so anomalous it warranted its own Wikipedia entry.
The unceasing cold front was unusual in both severity and scope, both hallmarks of extreme weather, plunging millions of Americans into deadly low temperatures.
According to AccuWeather chief meteorologist Jonathan Porter, weeks of life-threatening cold, intermittent snowstorms, and frigid winds affected indoor conditions as well as outdoor ones.
"Furnaces and heat pumps have been running nearly nonstop to keep homes, apartments, and businesses warm amid this bitter cold. This relentless cold has compounded the affordability challenges many people have been struggling with this winter," Porter explained, per USA Today.
Tracie Klossner lives near Rochester, New York, where local officials warned residents to take safety measures amid bitterly cold temperatures. Her utility bill cycle ended Feb. 2 and "clocked in at over $720," USA Today reported.
"I was just utterly speechless," Klossner admitted. According to WHAM, she wasn't alone — on Feb. 17, the outlet reported that Rochester Gas & Electric informed customers that their winter energy bills were likely to remain high.
WHAM cited one customer whose bill tripled month over month to $1,400, but as USA Today noted, a September 2025 JD Power analysis found a 41% increase in household utility bills between 2020 and 2025.
Why is this concerning?
Porter referenced the "affordability challenges" many Americans faced, and utility costs have been a persistent, growing problem.
In June, New York City comptroller Brad Lander determined 30% of residents were "energy insecure" or unable to reliably afford basic energy needs — a nationwide issue.
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$200 or more 💰 Utility providers cited high demand as the cause of eye-watering bills. That's a broader energy-related concern, as data center demand has driven up electricity costs, further burdening ratepayers who cannot opt out of heat or power.
Then there's extreme weather, such as the brutal cold that affected most Americans.
Extreme weather is not synonymous with "severe weather" like hurricanes, floods, or wildfires, which have always existed. When average temperatures rise, evaporation increases, supercharging already intense weather patterns.
Human activities, such as burning fossil fuels, hasten this warming and ultimately exacerbate extreme weather.
Hurricanes hit harder, floods come faster and more furiously, and winter weather becomes colder and deadlier.
What's being done about it?
In addition to data center demand, USA Today cited an outdated grid and a policy shift away from renewable energy as factors driving utility rate increases.
Understanding the link between extreme weather and high costs is important, and pressuring lawmakers to act has proved effective — in late 2025, community pushback stopped $98 billion in data center development.
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