As electricity bills across the nation continue their relentless climb, a new political battleground is taking shape for the 2026 midterms. Voters are fuming over a 4.7% inflation-adjusted increase in electricity costs during the Biden administration—a whopping 25.8% in nominal terms. Yeah, that’s gonna leave a mark on some campaign strategies.
The Trump administration has wasted no time seizing on this discontent. They’ve claimed residential utility expenses rose over 30% under Biden and are now pushing policies that favor fossil fuels while potentially scaling back wind and solar deployment. Their message is simple: we’ll keep your lights on without emptying your wallet. Emergency powers to prevent power plant closures and increased LNG exports are part of their playbook.
Meanwhile, the White House isn’t sitting idle. They’ve launched an extensive agency review to slash household electricity expenses and retracted a Biden memorandum on Snake River dams—a move that could save consumers hundreds of millions. They’ve also relaxed natural gas pipeline permitting and financed fossil plant restarts. The Energy Secretary is already making promises about price declines. We’ll see about that.
Mid-Atlantic states are feeling the burn especially hard thanks to all those fancy AI data centers gobbling up electricity. The PJM Interconnection auction hit record-high prices from the demand surge. Tech companies are now scrambling to secure long-term generation through emergency auctions. Experts warn that rising demand from data centers could trigger extreme rate shifts in coming years. The EIA forecasts indicate electricity consumption growth of 1% in 2026 and 3% in 2027, marking the strongest consecutive increases since 2005-07.
Recent off-year elections have already shown electricity rates packing a political punch. Voter anger influenced results in New Jersey, Virginia, and Georgia. Democrats actually managed some victories by highlighting the issue—a strategy they’ll likely double down on for the midterms. This political tug-of-war unfolds as renewable energy sources have officially surpassed coal in US electricity generation for the first time.
State regulators are suddenly finding themselves in the national spotlight. Pennsylvania ditched the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative citing affordability concerns. And in a rare moment of agreement, Trump and NYC’s Mayor-elect both demanded ConEd cut rates.
One thing’s certain—when Americans open their electric bills, they’re also opening their voting minds. Shocking, right?
References
- https://www.eenews.net/articles/electricity-rates-a-potent-political-issue-ahead-of-2026-midterms-2/
- https://www.axios.com/2026/01/17/electricity-bills-power-energy-prices-trump
- https://www.politico.com/news/2026/01/07/inside-the-white-house-obsession-with-reducing-energy-prices-00714829
- https://www.utilitydive.com/news/customers-should-not-expect-electric-bill-relief-in-2026-the-cake-is-bake/810450/
- https://www.mprnews.org/story/2025/11/08/voter-anger-over-electricity-bills-data-centers-could-affect-2026-midterms
