Methodology
Edition 2026-10-21
Sources
| Item | Value | Unit | As of | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Power: US average retail electricity (BLS CPI average price, U.S. city average) | 0.196 | $/kWh | 2026-09 | https://data.bls.gov/timeseries/APU000072610 |
| Power: PJM West hub real-time peak, weighted avg (ICE via EIA) | 265.4 | $/MWh | trade date 2026-10-13 | https://www.eia.gov/electricity/wholesale/ |
| Compute: H100 SXM rental, Ornn Compute Price Index (OCPI) | 3.09 | $/GPU-hour | 2026-10-21 | https://data.ornn.com/ |
| Freight: Class I rail average freight revenue (BTS NTS Table 3-21) UNVERIFIED | 0.0438 | $/ton-mile | 2024 (annual) | https://www.bts.gov/content/average-freight-revenue-ton-mile |
| Launch: SpaceX rideshare published rate, 2026 launches (SSO/LEO) | 7,000 | $/kg to orbit | 2026-08 | https://newspacemarket.com/intelligence/launch-index/ |
| Metals: Copper, LME grade A (World Bank Pink Sheet) | 14,474.0 | $/metric ton | 2026-09 | https://thedocs.worldbank.org/en/doc/74e8be41ceb20fa0da750cda2f6b9e4e-0050012026/related/CMO-Historical-Data-Monthly.xlsx |
| Metals: Aluminum (World Bank Pink Sheet) | 3,283.0 | $/metric ton | 2026-09 | https://thedocs.worldbank.org/en/doc/74e8be41ceb20fa0da750cda2f6b9e4e-0050012026/related/CMO-Historical-Data-Monthly.xlsx |
| Carbon: California–Québec joint auction #48 current-auction settlement price | 32.48 | $/metric ton CO2e | 2026-08-19 | https://ww2.arb.ca.gov/sites/default/files/2026-08/nc-aug_2026_summary_results_report.pdf |
| H100 SXM max thermal design power | 700 | W | 2026-10-21 (fetched) | https://www.nvidia.com/en-us/data-center/h100/ |
Formulas
- Units per $1,000 = 1000 ÷ price (per unit).
- kg of metal per $1,000 = 1000 ÷ ($/metric ton) × 1000.
- kWh input → dollars = kWh × US retail $/kWh; then as above.
- GPU-hour energy = 700 W × 1 h ÷ 1000 = 0.7 kWh (max TDP; real draw is usually lower).
- Period change = current ÷ prior sourced value − 1. Week-over-week is n/a for all items: none of the sources publish weekly values we fetched.
UNVERIFIED and omitted
- Freight (Class I rail, 4.38¢/ton-mile, 2024): UNVERIFIED. Figure came from a search summary of the BTS table; the BTS spreadsheet download was blocked (403), so not confirmed from the source file.
- Steel $/ton: FRED still in maintenance (retried 2026-10-21); BLS PPI WPU101 is an index, not $/ton, so not used
- EU ETS $/tonne: retried EEX auction page 2026-10-21; it lists no clearing prices; not confirmed
- Verra fee schedule: fetch interrupted; not confirmed
- Freight energy intensity (kWh to ton-miles physical conversion): no source fetched; omitted