WEBVTT

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Ruth: My niece Carla, up in Jersey, sends me her light bill like it’s a ransom note.

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And here’s the part nobody at the fire hall wants to hear from me:

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she’s not wrong.

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Where Carla lives, the grid’s own referee says data centers drove a big share of those charges.

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That’s real. I checked.

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Partly true, mind you.

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Half that spike was old power plants retiring faster than new ones got built.

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But partly true is plenty true when it’s your name on the envelope.

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Mr. Whitfield. Virginia wrote a rule.

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Big users sign for 14 years, pay 85% minimum, use it or not.

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Ohio wrote one too.

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So, will you sign ours? Your wires. Your risk. Not our bills.

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Whitfield: Yes. In writing.

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Ruth: Didn’t make me trust him. Made me willing to count.

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That’s what paper’s for.