Gas prices could triple — and hyperscalers are sitting on the bill

A new forecast from the Energy Information Administration warns that natural gas prices in parts of the U.S. could triple over the next decade. The numbers aren't predictions — they're scenarios, and the high one is the one everyone's worried about.

The people who bought in hard on natural gas are the hyperscalers: the cloud giants building AI data centers by the tens of thousands. They chose gas because it was cheap, abundant, and easier to plug into the grid than waiting on renewables. Now the bill is coming due. The data centers are huge consumers — a single facility can draw as much power as a small city. If gas prices spike, the operating costs don't just creep up; they compound.

Why this matters for us: when the big tech companies' power bills explode, the cost gets passed through — to the grid, to the ratepayers, and eventually to the rest of us trying to afford the electricity that keeps the lights on.