Around Town: Merry Christmas! Gas Prices Lowest Since 2020, Mo' Data Mo' Problems

Merry Christmas, travelers, the average price of gas is the lowest it's been during the holiday season since 2020.

For those hitting the road ahead of Christmas or getting last minute gifts, Santa has delivered. Rome's average price for a gallon of unleaded is around $2.70, according to GasBuddy.com, lower than the projected $2.95 national average on Christmas.

Since you're likely traveling elsewhere, the national average price of a gallon of gas is at $2.95.

But why?

Is it because Trump was reelected? Nah, presidents — and especially presidents-elect — have next to nothing to do with gas prices no matter what an "I did that" sticker placed on a gas pump tells you.

Those prices have dropped in large part because of a market recovery after the pandemic, coupled with Federal Reserve measures to curb inflation through higher interest rates, and a weak economy in China (the world's second largest oil consumer).

Either way, if you're driving this weekend you get to reap the benefits.

"This holiday season is shaping up to be a gift for American drivers, with gas prices presenting a stark contrast to the budget-breaking levels we've seen in recent years and a return to what feels like normal for many Americans filling their tanks," said Patrick De Haan, head of petroleum analysis at GasBuddy.

Mo' Data, Mo' Problems

Immediately after hearing that a second data center is locating in Floyd County (this time next to Coosa High School) the Chicken Littles on social media took to the warpath claiming the sky was falling.

In 2023, Microsoft announced they would be investing $1 billion in a data center in Floyd County and some folks on social media lost their minds.

At least this time it's not an all out panic about SkyNet coming to Rome (if you don't get the reference, it's the name of the AI in the 1984 film "The Terminator" that took over the world and tried — and failed — to snuff out humankind).

This time it was some conspiracy theories about data centers collecting all their information and being used as listening posts (or something like that).

Seriously, people, there are real concerns about the proliferation of data centers in Georgia, primarily because of their draw on the power grid, but they're not stealing all your information. You're giving it all away through your phone and social media.

If you don't like power rate hikes, then you've got a reason to be up in arms.

Data centers have a lot of benefits to a community. The facilities, like Microsoft, are expected to bring in a significant amount of taxable revenue to our community (potentially lowering our taxes).

On the flip side, they use a significant amount of power and can be pretty noisy. Georgia Power has gone on record to say that those data centers power the AI tools so many have become so very fond of.

That high power usage comes at a cost to the consumer. According to Georgia Power's projections, the company's 12,000-megawatt load growth will triple by the mid-2030s.

What does that mean? That means, with more high energy consuming data centers coming down the pipeline, there will be more rate hikes ahead. And if what we're hearing is true, Floyd County may have yet another data center project announcement coming soon.

Elon For House Speaker? Greene's All In

One of the craziest things recently coming out of Congress (and admittedly there's a lot) was a pitch yesterday to make Tesla CEO Elon Musk the Speaker of the House.

While it's too off the wall to really get deep into it, here's a summary. It started with folks like Sen. Rand Paul, who tossed out on his X page (owned by Musk) this nugget:

"Nothing would disrupt the swamp more than electing Elon Musk... think about it... nothing's impossible. (not to mention the joy at seeing the collective establishment, aka 'uniparty,' lose their ever-lovin' minds)"

Always in for a burn-it-all-down proposal, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (also on X) jumped in:

"I'd be open to supporting @elonmusk for Speaker of the House. DOGE can only truly be accomplished by reigning in Congress to enact real government efficiency. The establishment needs to be shattered just like it was yesterday. This could be the way."

The shattered establishment she's referencing was the blocking of a bipartisan spending bill proposal by House Speaker Mike Johnson to fund the government and avoid a shut down (which could happen at midnight today).

Musk and his co-Department of Government Efficiency leader Vivek Ramaswamy (a billionaire who made his fortune through pharma) blasted the bill in literally hundreds of posts. Their pitch worked. The billionaire bros ramped up enough support to spike the bill and Congress is back at square one.

Then, almost as if a specter of political exploitation rose from the grave, Newt Gingrich jumped back in (also on X):

"President Trump and Republicans should not be afraid of a government shutdown. The next election is two years away. We had two shutdowns in 1995 and became the first reelected house gop majority since 1928. It may take shock therapy for schumer and democrats to learn President Trump is serious about draining the swamp."

Congressional spending has been out of control for some time, but like any consumer America has to pay its debts. We're all tired of government overspending and being overtaxed to cover those debts, no question about it.

But this feels like some rich folks trying to get richer from draining swampland so they can build a new development to their benefit.