While there’s plenty for voters to be worried about right now, rising utility bills have become a hot-button issue. The success of Democrats in New Jersey, Virginia, and Georgia in this week’s elections can be seen as something of a referendum on the state of energy policy and infrastructure in the US as power grids struggle to keep up with growing electricity demand from AI data centers, electric vehicles, and domestic manufacturing.
These issues aren’t going to disappear, and Democrats now face a tough road ahead to meet those challenges and make good on their campaign promises to lower electricity prices.
“Consumers have sent a clear message: they are paying attention and will hold public officials accountable for decisions that impact their utility bills,” Charles Hua, executive director of nonprofit consumer advocacy group PowerLines, said in an election day press release.
“Now, we have a bogey man”
One in three US households has had to forgo necessities like food or medicine in order to be able to pay their energy bills in 2024, according to a US Census survey. In 2015, one in five households said the same in a similar federal survey. It’s an issue called energy insecurity in policy-speak that’s been a persistent problem in the US for years. But electricity prices are on the rise, affecting more people.
New Jersey has seen one of the largest spikes, with retail rates jumping as high as 20 percent this summer, Heatmap reports. Governor-elect Mikie Sherrill said on the campaign trail that she would quickly declare a state of emergency and freeze rate hikes.
Virginia’s soon-to-be governor Abigail Spanberger campaigned on pledges to ramp up electricity generation with more nuclear energy, offshore wind, and solar energy. She also emphasized making data centers “[pay] their fair share.” Average residential costs for electricity rose 3 percent in Virginia between May 2024 and 2025, lower than the national average of about 6.5 percent. But apprehensions over the future of the power grid have heightened with the AI boom; Virginia has more energy-hungry data centers than anywhere else in the world.
“Now, we have a bogey man — data centers who are these large energy users who are coming in and in many states getting sweetheart deals on wholesale electricity prices when regular consumers don’t have that type of sway,” says Tony Reames, a professor of environmental justice at the University of Michigan and director of the Urban Energy Justice Lab (he was also previously appointed to senior roles within the US Department of Energy during the Joe Biden administration).
Sherrill and Spanberger, who were once roommates as members of Congress in Washington, DC, both faced GOP opponents who blamed climbing costs on environmental regulations hamstringing fossil fuel generation. Voters were not entirely convinced. Solar and wind have become the cheapest sources of new electricity generation, making up a majority of new capacity planned to come online in the US.
Nevertheless, the Democratic governors-elect face serious headwinds and a lot of uncertainty when it comes to their energy goals. Experts aren’t quite sure how Sherrill could go about freezing electricity rates, which are usually set by separate regulatory authorities and wholesale auctions. The move could also face legal challenges, Hua tells Barron’s.
Renewable energy projects, and offshore wind in particular, are in President Donald Trump’s crosshairs. The Trump administration has abruptly issued stop work orders to offshore wind projects and GOP members of Congress have voted to sunset key tax credits for solar and wind energy.
It takes a long time to build out new infrastructure, particularly when it comes to nuclear energy. There’s been bipartisan support for nuclear energy, particularly as a way to generate electricity 24/7 for data centers. Next-generation nuclear reactors are still in the design or demonstration phase and likely have several years of licensing and permitting ahead before even breaking ground on commercial-scale projects. The Trump administration is trying to speed up that timeline with its deregulatory agenda, which is already triggering some fears about safety.
Costs and construction delays have plagued conventional nuclear energy projects also — particularly in Georgia. The state is home to the first new reactors built in the US in more than three decades. After construction started in 2009, Vogtle units 3 and 4 turned on in 2023 and 2024 after running about $20 billion over budget.
“A new politics of electricity in America”
Consumers paid for the extra costs with higher utility bills, Reuters reports. This week, they responded by voting in two new Democratic utility commissioners. The state’s Public Service Commission decides electricity rates and oversees utilities, and was previously made up entirely of Republicans.
“The election of two new Public Service Commissioners represents a seismic change in Georgia’s energy landscape and reflects a new politics of electricity in America,” said Hua.
To make a real dent in Americans’ utility bills, lawmakers will have to tackle a range of underlying root problems. There’s probably an entire class to be taught on the matter, but Heatmap has a nice explainer article, too. Electricity demand is suddenly growing after more than a decade of roughly flatlining, thanks in no small part to data centers and AI. Methane gas prices rose after Russia invaded Ukraine and Europe started importing more gas from the US. Power grids have also incurred more costs from worsening weather and climate disasters in the US. And America’s aging infrastructure was overdue for upgrades anyway, with utilities spending a lot of money replacing or putting up new power lines and related infrastructure.
Infrastructure upgrades often result in across-the-board fees for consumers regardless of energy usage or income level. Reames says reforming the way rates are set can be one way to make utility bills more affordable for households confronted with the tough “heat or eat” decision. There could be income-based payment plans or special rates set for multifamily units, for instance. Then require data centers or other big commercial energy users to pitch in, perhaps creating funds through legally binding community benefits agreements that advocacy groups are already using to limit the impact data centers have on nearby communities. Those types of agreements can also include stipulations to support renewable energy growth, including shared community solar projects that can help reduce household bills.
“The focus on energy affordability that was in this last election should provide the opportunity for us to have a more innovative conversation about how we support households that are suffering from energy poverty,” Reames says.
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