Xbox One is costing gamers $250M a year, according to environmental group

The convenience of the Xbox One is costing you money.

If you have your Xbox One in “Instant On” mode, it’s likely adding a significant amount of energy consumption to your electricity bill, according to the Natural Resources Defense Council environmental group. This is because Microsoft wants players to have the ability to turn on their Xbox One system with just their voice. The NRDC points out that each console has problems with energy consumption, but it finds that Microsoft’s box is particularly wasteful in this area. An NRDC study found that these gaming systems can consume around 10 billion to 11 billion kilowatt-hours annually just in the United States, which is enough to provide electricity to every home in Houston for a year.