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ICYMI: Soaring Power Bills in Largest US Grid Pose Risk for Republicans

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Press Contact: Emily Halvorson

New reporting from Bloomberg highlights how skyrocketing energy bills are quickly becoming a major political problem for Republicans in key battleground states. Power prices are surging within PJM Interconnection—the nation’s largest electric grid powering 65 million people across 13 states. Yet even as Trump and Republicans continue to scapegoat wind and solar power, the true culprits behind rising costs are aging transmission infrastructure and policy decisions that have stalled the expansion of affordable, faster-to-build clean energy needed to meet growing demand. In fact, Trump has taken a series of deliberate actions, including halting key wind projects and rolling back clean energy incentives that experts say are directly fueling price spikes. With households across the country struggling to keep up with utility bills and tight races heating up in states like Pennsylvania, Ohio, and New Jersey, Republicans may find that voters are just losing their patience. 

ICYMI: Bloomberg: Soaring Power Bills in Largest US Grid Pose Risk for Republicans

August 27, 2025
By: Ari Natter, Naureen S Malik

Key Points:

  • Surging utility bills in key battleground states are threatening to become a political liability for Republicans heading into upcoming elections.

  • Nowhere is that more apparent than on the largest US grid, stretching from Virginia to Illinois, where the cost of securing wholesale power supplies has been at a record for two straight years. The region includes two states electing governors this November, as well as four that are facing competitive House and Senate races next year. And nearly all of the electricity there comes from natural gas, nuclear reactors and coal.

  • That means President Donald Trump’s strategy of blaming renewable energy for surging electricity costs – including calling wind and solar “the scam of the century” last week — may have a hard time gaining traction.

  • The problem isn’t exclusive to PJM. Electricity prices, nationally, rose at more than twice the rate of overall inflation in the past year and are holding near a record high. But the issue’s political salience in the region suggests soaring utility bills are shaping up to be a key issue at the ballot box.

  • The governors of states served by PJM have been vocal about the rising cost of power. When the grid operator’s annual power sale yielded a record cost to secure supplies last year, Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro filed a lawsuit against federal regulators that resulted in a settlement that set a price cap on future auctions. But even with the cap in place this year, the price of power supply hit another record: $16.1 billion.

  • Against that backdrop, power costs have become a key issue in New Jersey’s gubernatorial election, with Democratic candidate Mikie Sherrill pledging to freeze utility rates if she’s elected. In Virginia, home to the nation’s biggest AI data-center build-out, cost-of-living is similarly a top issue in the governor’s race, according to a Virginia Commonwealth University poll. And in Michigan, Ohio, New Jersey and Pennsylvania – PJM states facing tight Senate or House races – some 25% of residents can’t afford to pay their utility bills, according to a study by Utility Rates.

  • Trump has vowed repeatedly to halve power prices within 12 months of taking office as well as double electricity capacity. Instead, residential electricity prices have climbed about 10% from January until May and are projected to rise another 5.8% next year, according to the Energy Information Administration.

  • The president’s own policies are poised to exacerbate that trend, critics say. Since taking office, Trump has halted the development of two wind power projects, including one key to meeting demand in the US Northeast, where a dearth of supply has strained the grid. And the recent rollback of clean energy tax credits is expected to curb the build-out of other planned renewable plants.

  • “Basic economics shows that restricting supply in the face of rising demand drives prices higher,” said American Clean Power Association Chief Executive Officer Jason Grumet. “By slowing clean energy deployment, the administration is directly fueling cost increases.”

  • Wright himself has pointed to the political risk associated with rising utility bills, telling Politico in an interview this month: “We’re going to get blamed because we’re in office.”