Voters make governors, utility regulators answer for high power bills

As broad affordability concerns define elections across the country, voters in several states on Tuesday will have a say on their future utility bills.

State utility regulators, who are facing heightened levels of attention and scrutiny amid high prices, are on the ballot in nine states: Alabama, Arizona, Georgia, Louisiana, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, Oklahoma and South Dakota.

Most Americans are served by utilities overseen by state regulators, who approve or deny rate increase requests from providers. Public outcry over rising utility prices has pushed state regulators and lawmakers to consider rate freezes, additional energy assistance funds or new rates targeting large energy users such as data centers. And it’s brought even more attention to high prices in races for both governors and utility regulators.

“I think it’s different and it really emerged in the off-year elections,” said Ted Thomas, an energy consultant and the former Republican chair of the Arkansas Public Service Commission. “It began to emerge in 2024 as part of the overall concern on inflation, and then it seemed to have gone beyond that with a focus on energy specifically.”

Rising prices squeeze more Americans ahead of pivotal midterm elections

Utility prices played a major role in 2025 Democratic gubernatorial wins in New Jersey and Virginia. And in Georgia, Democrats last year flipped two seats on the board that regulates public utilities — the first time Democrats won statewide constitutional office there in nearly two decades.

Thomas is a senior adviser to the consumer advocacy group PowerLines, which is tracking how gubernatorial and utility regulator candidates are talking about power bills in races across the country. This cycle has so far proven bruising for incumbent utility regulators: In Alabama, two Republican incumbents were ousted during primary and runoff elections as the state faces some of the highest electricity prices in the South. Two of the three Alabama Public Service Commission seats are on the ballot Tuesday. 

Likewise, in Arizona, a Republican incumbent lost during his primary contest, leaving two Democrats and two Republicans running for two open seats this week. The Arizona Corporation Commission is currently composed of five Republicans.

“We can literally elect folks that are going to lower our electricity bills,” state Rep. Mariana Sandoval, a Democrat, said last month, according to the Arizona Mirror.

While Thomas expects an anti-incumbency wave Tuesday, he noted that there’s no guarantee for immediate relief on consumers’ bills. Though lawmakers of both parties are increasingly scrutinizing high electricity prices, state leaders say they have little ability to lower costs because of broader energy market realities.

Relief from energy bills unlikely as utilities request billions in rate hikes

While states can’t stop rising prices altogether, Thomas said they can do more to protect consumer pocketbooks and ensure residential households aren’t paying for large-scale industrial energy users.

“It’s a large, complex system that costs a lot of money, and it provides an essential service that is a good value, even at an elevated price,” he said. “But at the same time, (affordability) needs to be more of a priority. It doesn’t need to be the back burner issue.”

Utilities have requested billions of dollars in upcoming rate increases across the country.

This winter, U.S. households are projected to spend an average of $1,030 to heat their homes, an increase of $82 over last year, according to the National Energy Assistance Directors Association. That organization, which represents state employees administering federal energy assistance programs, said this winter’s predicted 8.7% increase is more than 2.5 times the rate of inflation. 

Projections are more daunting for the large share of people in Northeastern states who heat their homes with oil. The association projects a 50% spike in the average cost of heating homes with oil this winter.

The LCV Victory Fund, a political action committee associated with the League of Conservation Voters, has pledged to spend over $110 million to help elect Democrats to key House, Senate, and state races. Since summer, that organization has targeted the “energy bill voter,” which it describes as a crucial voting bloc of women, Black and Latino people, non-college-educated residents and voters who are less engaged with politics.

Data center backlash set to sway midterm elections

“This is an energy election,” Sara Schreiber, senior vice president of campaigns at LCV Victory Fund, said in an October news release. “We identified early on that Republicans were vulnerable when it came to energy costs. Voters are not simply frustrated, they’re angry at monopoly utility companies, Big Tech, and Big Oil, who are making record profits while families struggle.” 

While much of the backlash over rising costs has focused on the growing number of data centers, electricity providers say that isn’t the major driver of rising prices.

In a recent study it commissioned, the Edison Electric Institute, which represents the nation’s investor-owned electric utilities, said electric providers were working with state regulators to ensure data centers pay their fair share “and help keep electricity as affordable as possible.”

That study blamed rising prices on higher wholesale electricity prices and broader issues with regional multistate grids — components of electric bills that are not controlled by electric companies or state regulators. 

“Our focus is on protecting existing customers and communities and strengthening the grid we all rely on,” Edison Electric Institute President and CEO Drew Maloney said in a news release earlier this month.

Stateline reporter Kevin Hardy can be reached at [email protected].