Rising electricity bills strain US households ahead of midterms: survey

Consumers are concerned about and strained by rising energy prices across the US, according to a report highlighting increasing utility bills and views on data centers.

A Consumer Reports survey, released Oct. 21, found that 81% of US respondents who have lived in the same home for at least three years said their electricity bills increased during that time. Among those, approximately three in four said the increase has strained their household finances.

Specifically, 28% said their electricity bills increased between 20% and 49% in the past three years, while 26% said their bills increased by less than 20%. Meanwhile, 6% said their electricity bills increased by at least 50%.

The survey captured responses from more than 2,000 US adults in April and May 2026.

The results come a few weeks before the Nov. 3 midterm elections, where energy affordability has become a key issue and campaign point for politicians.

"We're hearing a lot about energy right now because the midterms are coming up," Sara Enright, senior director of safety and energy at Consumer Reports, told Platts, part of S&P Global Energy. "So, it's a cost-of-living issue."

Enright said this is not a partisan issue.

"This survey shows that this affects everyday Americans," Enright said. "This has nothing to do with today's politics. This is a problem that everybody is facing, and we need to come together to help solve it."

Energy affordability

Households are making efforts to lower their electricity bills.

The survey found that approximately one in four respondents had reduced or considered cuts to nonessential spending, such as travel or dining out, and another quarter had reduced heating or cooling to uncomfortable levels. Meanwhile, approximately one in five said they bought fewer groceries or switched to less expensive options, or at least considered it. Another fifth said they looked into or considered whether their utility had programs to reduce their costs.

"This is not an issue that's affecting just low-income Americans. It's starting to really push up into the middle class," Enright said.

When asked to name factors that are driving up home electricity costs, 45% of survey respondents said utility company profits. Other common responses included increased demand from AI and data centers (38%), frequent fossil fuel price changes (37%) and the costs to improve or repair energy infrastructure (36%).

Trust in state utility regulators was low. Only 1% said they trust regulators completely. About 75% said they trust state utility regulators "only a little or not at all" to protect household consumer interests.

About half of respondents said that it is "unacceptable" for utilities to pass on expenses to residential customers through higher rates. Respondents said utilities should not charge ratepayers for expenses beyond the cost of producing and delivering energy to residential customers. "This did not differ by political leaning," Consumer Reports said.

When utilities are preparing for or recovering from natural disasters, half of respondents said they should receive no profit or less profit than they normally make on major investments.

The survey found that 36% of respondents said the US should prioritize building more renewables over the next few years, while 9% favored building mostly or all nonrenewable resources. Meanwhile, 24% of respondents said the resource mix is immaterial as long as it is affordable and reliable.

Data centers

Data centers have also become a large issue with growing opposition, particularly in the lead-up to the midterms.

The majority (84%) of respondents said they would support their local electric utility creating a separate rate category for large-load customers.

While several major tech companies signed President Donald Trump's ratepayer protection pledge to ensure data center-related costs are not passed on to other ratepayers, those costs continue to be an issue. The companies that signed include Amazon.com Inc., Google LLC, Meta Platforms Inc., Microsoft Corp., Oracle Corp., OpenAI LLC and X.AI LLC.

"We're seeing a continuing trend of people needing help with rising costs, distrust of authority figures that are in charge of the energy system and concern about data centers and tech companies and their promises to pay their own way," Enright said.

Generally, respondents were supportive of large electricity users paying more for their infrastructure needs, insulating residential customers from these costs and the financial risks tied to data centers.

Half of respondents said that data centers should pay all costs for infrastructure costs built primarily to serve them, and another 39% said they should pay a greater share than other customers. If a data center closes, approximately half of respondents said it should still be required to pay for the full infrastructure costs.