Americans paying record electricity prices as gas costs climb

ENERGY

American households are paying more than ever before for electricity after prices surged the most in almost two years, according to the US Energy Information Administration. The average retail price for electricity gained 7.4 percent in September to a record 18.07 cents per kilowatt-hour, the biggest gain since December 2023, according to data released Tuesday. Power costs are expected to climb even higher in 2026, and transportation and commercial customers are seeing similar trends, amid rising fuel costs and increased demand. The figures highlight the rising pressure consumers are facing from higher energy bills, as increased power consumption from data centers and industrial users boost prices. While electricity typically fluctuates from month to month due to weather, fuel costs and other reasons, the data shows that power prices have been steadily marching higher for the past five years. A notable part of the increase comes from natural gas. September prices for the biggest source of US power were up 30 percent from a year earlier. — BLOOMBERG NEWS

HEALTH CARE

Pharmaceutical companies have agreed to slash the Medicare prices for 15 prescription drugs after months of negotiations, reductions that are expected to produce billions in savings for taxpayers and older adults, the Trump administration said. But the net prices it unveiled for a 30-day supply of each drug are not what Medicare recipients will pay at their pharmacy counters, since those final amounts will depend on each individual’s plan and how much they spend on prescriptions in a given year. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. touted the deals as part of the administration’s efforts to address affordability concerns among Americans. The Medicare drug negotiation program that made them possible is mandated by law and began under President Joe Biden’s administration. The announcement marks the completion of a second round of negotiations under a 2022 law that allows Medicare to haggle over the price it pays on the most popular and expensive prescription drugs used by older Americans, bringing the total number of negotiated drug prices to 25. The new round of negotiated prices will go into effect in 2027. Reduced prices for the inaugural round of 10 drugs negotiated by the Biden administration last year will go into effect in January. The latest negotiated prices apply to some of the prescription medications on which Medicare spends the most money, including the massively popular GLP-1 weight-loss and diabetes drugs Ozempic, Rybelsus, and Wegovy. Some of the other drugs involved in the negotiations include Trelegy Ellipta, which treats asthma; Otezla, a psoriatic arthritis drug; and various drugs that treat diabetes, irritable bowel syndrome, and different forms of cancer. — ASSOCIATED PRESS

LABOR

HP Inc. gave a profit outlook for current year that fell short of estimates and the company said it will cut 4,000 to 6,000 employees through fiscal 2028 by using more AI tools. The PC and printer maker will exit 2028 with gross savings of $1 billion annually as a result of the cuts. The savings will come from HP applying AI tools to areas like product development, customer support, sales, and manufacturing, chief executive Enrique Lores said in an interview. “It’s something we have to do to make sure the company stays competitive,” he said. The company’s workforce was about 58,000 as of October 2024. Its shares fell 1.4 percent in Wednesday trading. — BLOOMBERG NEWS

ECOMMERCE

European Union regulators are stepping up scrutiny of Shein’s safety measures after French authorities found illegal weapons and child-like sex dolls on the fast-fashion company’s website. The European Commission said Tuesday it was using the 27-nation bloc’s digital rulebook to demand more information from the company on what it’s doing to protect children and to prevent illegal goods from showing up on its online marketplace. Shein has come under fire in France after officials found the sex dolls with childlike features for sale on its website, and then discovered large quantities of illegal “Class A” weapons including firearms, knives, and machetes. The French government responded by moving to suspend access to the Shein website in France. It also asked the European Commission — the EU’s executive arm — to investigate under the bloc’s Digital Services Act, which requires online platforms to do more to protect users under threat of hefty financial penalties. The Commission has sent a so-called request for information to Shein because “we now have serious indications that indeed Shein may be posing more systemic risks for our consumers across the entire European Union,” spokesman Thomas Regnier told a daily briefing in Brussels. Shein said it has received the request, “and we are working to promptly address it.” — ASSOCIATED PRESS

TECH

The Australian government said young children will be banned from social media next month as scheduled despite a rights advocacy group on Wednesday challenging the world-first legislation in court. The Sydney-based Digital Freedom Project said it had filed a constitutional challenge in the High Court on Wednesday to a law due to take effect on Dec. 10 banning Australian children younger than 16 from holding accounts on specified platforms. Communications Minister Anika Wells referred to the challenge when she later told Parliament her government remained committed to the ban taking effect on schedule. “We will not be intimidated by legal challenges. We will not be intimidated by Big Tech. On behalf of Australian parents, we stand firm,” Wells told Parliament. Digital Freedom Project president John Ruddick is a New South Wales state lawmaker for the minor Libertarian Party. “Parental supervision of online activity is today the paramount parental responsibility. We do not want to outsource that responsibility to government and unelected bureaucrats,” Ruddick said in a statement. “This ban is a direct assault on young people’s right to freedom of political communication,” he added. — ASSOCIATED PRESS