Big Tech sells American energy consumers a bill of goods

 

Postcard from Retiring Guy's collection

Headline and subhead:  New York Times, 8/14/2025

Ivan Penn and Karen Weise report:

Tech companies insist they are not trying to fob energy costs onto residents and small businesses, saying they are willing to pay for the power they use and for much of the equipment needed to make it available. 

“We don't want to see other customers bearing the cost of us trying to grow,” said Bobby Hollis, who leads Microsoft’s energy procurement.

 

According to Merriam-Webster, the first-known use of 'bill of goods', as in something intentionally misrepresented : something passed off in a deception or fraud, occurred in 1842.

Other coinages from the same year includes:

1. bucketload
2. echo chamber
3. getup
4. inbreeding
5. lobbyist
6. white list