Latest Energy Affordability News
Tech firms pledge to pay for AI data centre power costs. But will they?
BBC (March 4, 2026)
"US President Donald Trump has embraced the AI sector. But the expansion of data centres has strained the electric grid, and utility bills are a top cost-of-living issue for voters ahead of November's midterm elections. In a meeting at the White House, tech executives signed a 'ratepayer protection pledge', which Trump unveiled last month. But it is unclear how Big Tech will be held to the pledge. Analysts question how such an agreement can be enforced, and what relief it would offer US households. The US and Israel's war with Iran could also undercut the president's push to lower electricity bills as supply chains are disrupted and global oil and natural gas prices spike."
Trump assaulted renewable energy. Now America is more vulnerable to Iran’s fossil fuel shocks
Fast Company (March 4, 2026)
"Oil and gas are global commodities, meaning their prices are affected by global factors. But just how much the Iran war impacts a country’s energy market depends on how much that country is dependent on fossil fuels. Unfortunately, Trump has made the U.S. increasingly dependent on these dirty, unstable sources of energy. His administration has slashed incentives for wind, solar, and battery development. It also blocked or canceled such projects while providing tax incentives and fast-tracked permits for oil and gas drilling. 'The costs of Trump’s war to the average American will be higher than it could have been because of the assault of the GOP and the Trump administration on renewable energy projects,' Peter Gleick, a member of the National Academy of Sciences, says via email.”
Oil and Natural Gas Prices Keep Climbing as Iran Attacks Escalate
The New York Times (March 3, 2026)
"If oil and natural gas prices stay high for a prolonged stretch, households and businesses may soon have to pay more for gasoline, heating and electricity.”
Canary Media (March 2, 2026)
"This trillion-dollar surge is transforming not only equity and capital markets but also the future U.S. power mix, locking in decisions that will shape energy affordability for decades. Smarter, cheaper, cleaner, less-risky options for powering data centers exist — if decision-makers choose them.”
Why MAGA suddenly loves solar power
The Washington Post (March 2, 2026)
"A growing number of prominent Trump allies — including former House speaker Newt Gingrich, veteran strategist Kellyanne Conway and GOP pollster Tony Fabrizio — are promoting solar as electricity demand surges and energy affordability climbs the list of voter concerns….The United States is in the midst of the largest increase in electricity demand in decades, driven by the explosive growth of data centers, giant warehouses of computers built to power AI tools and other software. Tech companies have warned that their ability to expand is increasingly constrained by a lack of available power. Solar is one of the few options for bringing new electricity generation online quickly — projects can often be planned and connected to the grid in a fraction of the time required for new fossil and nuclear energy sources.”
Your utility bills keep going up. Here’s everyone you can blame—AI data centers included
Fortune (March 1, 2026)
"Everyone is paying the price. But utility bill hikes are regressive expenses that impact lower-income and working-class residents the most. 'There are millions of Americans who are paying 10% to 20% of their incomes just on their utilities, which would be unfathomable for the vast majority of Americans,' Hua said. The costs are even tricker and more frustrating because they can greatly vary month to month with little transparency or choice, Hua said."
Governors are promising lower power bills. Here’s the only credible path to deliver.
Utility Dive (February 26, 2026)
"Across just the past few months, major utilities have come back with rate requests and capital plans that are materially higher than last year’s already inflated projections because their default response to load growth is to build the most expensive set of solutions on the menu....Instead, states should pursue an affordability roadmap that does three things immediately: increases utilization of existing grid assets; scales flexible capacity fast; and ensures large new loads pay their fair share so households aren’t subsidizing growth…..Affordability can’t be an afterthought in grid planning. It has to be a performance target."
Big Tech Is Buying Up America’s Land—and Home Builders Can’t Compete
Wall Street Journal (February 17, 2026)
“The rapid growth of artificial intelligence and the surge in construction of the large data centers it requires are emerging as another potential contributor to America’s housing shortage. Landowners and developers are finding that selling parcels to data-center developers can be far more profitable than any other use of the land.”
As Trump Obliterates Climate Efforts, States Try to Fill the Gap
New York Times (February 18, 2026)
“Across the country, Democratic-led states are accelerating their efforts to address climate change as action stalls at the federal level. Their initiatives took on newfound urgency last week, when the Trump administration moved to stop regulating greenhouse gases from the burning of fossil fuels, the main driver of Earth’s dangerous warming.
Experts said a patchwork of state climate policies was no substitute for federal leadership. But they added that state action would be crucial for the United States — historically the largest emitter of greenhouse gases — to continue shifting away from fossil fuels and toward cleaner energy while President Trump remains in office.”
Competing bills could determine future of data centers in Colorado
RMPBS (February 18, 2026)
“The 15-year contract Tellinguisen and her coalition are proposing is aimed at preventing utility companies from passing those costs to consumers. ‘If utilities overbuild to meet these loads and the loads don't materialize or come in at a much lower level, then other customers are potentially left holding the bag and paying for those costs,’ she said. ‘And that has direct impacts on affordability.’”
One nonsensical ploy after another
The Durango Herald - Opinion (February 18, 2026)
“An executive order preventing the retirement of a coal-fired power plant in Craig is for the benefit of the coal industry at the expense of everyday ratepayers who get nothing out of the deal except higher bills and more carbon pollution.”
Turning Our Back on Clean Energy
Paul Krugman’s Substack (February 16, 2026)
“Then came the renewable energy revolution. Solar and wind power have become cost-competitive with fossil fuels — they are, in particular, clearly cheaper than coal. Huge progress in batteries has rapidly reduced the problem of intermittency (the sun doesn’t always shine, the wind doesn’t always blow.) There’s now a clear path for a transition to an ‘electrotech’ economy in which renewable-generated electricity heats our homes, powers our cars, and much more. This transition would make us richer, not poorer. In fact, nations that for whatever reason fail to take advantage of electrotech will be left behind in global competition. And at this precise moment — a moment in which acting to accelerate the energy transition would increase, not reduce, economic growth — the U.S. government has been taken over by people who want us to go backward on energy.”
What will climate change cost Coloradans? Up to $37 billion, a new study says.
Colorado Sun(February 16, 2026)
“The study largely avoids scare scenarios about climate vortexes and unlivable homelands, zeroing in instead on predictable costs of higher heat and more frequent drought from now to 2050. The conclusion? What the report calls a conservative estimate of real costs to Coloradans will be $33 billion to $37 billion, depending on which of two temperature bands materializes over that 25 years. One band will result from a more optimistic forecast of carbon emissions reductions, the other on a more realistic estimate based on current policy. “
Electricity Prices Down 30% in Australia Expose Idiocy of Trump’s Attacks on Wind, Solar
Common Dreams - Opinion (February 16, 2026)
“It is true that because they are a new source of energy, they are attended by construction costs, whereas old coal and gas plants built years ago have already sunk that cost. But wind and solar are now so cheep that in many localities it is less expensive to build a new solar farm and operate it than just to keep an old gas or coal plant in operation.”
Coloradans are using less gas in our homes but bills are going up
COPIRG Blog (February 13, 2026)
“Even as Coloradans are using less gas, bills keep climbing. This pattern is driven largely by rising delivery costs, which we documented have rapidly outpaced the rise of wholesale natural gas prices. Delivery charges, which cover things like pipes, infrastructure, utility operations, and profits, now make up 65% of the average gas bill—up from just 27% in 1984. A new analysis this week from the Future of Heat Initiative (FoHI) confirms this trend. In fact, the average Colorado household now uses 17% less gas than in 2010 – but is paying 30% more.”
New bill to regulate data centers backed by Colorado environmental groups
Colorado Newsline (February 12, 2026)
"'Colorado is already home to large data centers, and many more developers want to build here,' Kipp said in a press release Wednesday. 'Without some basic protections in place, these projects place too much risk on the shoulders of Colorado families and small businesses. Our bill ensures that won’t happen.’"
Electricity prices rising by double the rate of inflation. Data center demand means no relief ahead, analysts say
CNBC (February 12, 2026)
“Electricity prices jumped 6.9% in 2025 year over year, more than double the headline inflation rate of 2.9%, according to Goldman Sachs. Prices will continue to rise through the end of the decade as data centers make up 40% of electricity demand growth, the bank said. This will lower disposable income, drag down consumer spending and slightly slow economic growth in the coming years, Goldman said.”
Colorado Public Radio (February 12, 2026)
“If approved, the latest bill would require large data center operators to build or purchase enough renewable energy to cover their annual electricity usage beginning in 2031. By the same year, those developers must enter formal contracts with utilities lasting at least 15 years to cover the cost of any grid upgrades necessary to deliver reliable power to the facilities. Other provisions would require developers to notify communities about their plans. Once a large data center opens, the operators will be required to report their annual energy and water usage to state health officials. One goal of the legislation is to ensure Colorado holds onto the chance of meeting its climate goals. In states with far more data center development, utilities have delayed coal plant retirements or built new gas plants to power the facilities. The legislation is also designed to ensure data centers cover the full cost of their energy usage, rather than relying on ratepayers to subsidize new power plants, substations and transmission lines necessary to power the facilities.”
Colorado’s data centers should pay their own way
Colorado Politics(February 12, 2026)
“If signed into law, the Data Center & Utility Modernization Bill (HB 26-1030) would provide some of the world’s wealthiest corporations with massive tax relief to build facilities that support their cloud computing, artificial intelligence and other resource-thirsty initiatives while extending little to no consumer protections for the everyday Coloradan just looking to keep their lights on. As the legislature grapples with another year of bone-deep budget cuts that will affect people of all ages, our state can’t afford to exempt data centers and their operators from paying their own way, most notably by giving them a 100% sales tax cut. What essential services or popular tax credits will potentially be cut or axed to cover these facilities’ bills?”
How States Can Address High Costs from Data Centers with BYO Clean Energy Requirements
Evergreen Action Blog (February 12, 2026)
“Data centers are also increasing generation costs, or the cost of the power itself, because of the spike in demand for energy they’re causing without adequately adding to the supply. Big tech is not paying its fair share for either its grid upgrades or power needs, forcing the cost of its data centers onto all of us.”
Farmers know a bad investment when we see one — forced coal is one of them
Colorado Politics - Opinion (February 11, 2026)
“From where I stand — literally out in the fields — this doesn’t make much sense. Coal units like Craig 1 are scheduled to close for a reason. They’re old, expensive to maintain and increasingly don’t perform reliably under stress. That’s not politics — that’s basic math and mechanics. When equipment reaches the end of its useful life, you can patch it up for a while, but the costs go up and the risks accumulate. Similar to a tractor that breaks down every harvest season; you don’t call it ‘reliable’ just because it used to be. You start planning for what comes next, and Craig’s owners have been making those plans for a decade.”
The United States Sacrificed $35 Billion in Clean Energy Projects Last Year
Mother Jones (February 11, 2026)
“For every dollar announced in new clean energy projects, companies canceled, closed, or downsized roughly three dollars’ worth. In total, at least roughly $35 billion in projects were abandoned last year, compared to just $3.4 billion in cancellations in 2023 and 2024 combined.”
Fortune (February 10, 2026)
“Even as overall inflation cools, utility bills are getting higher: The retail price of household power is up 21% in just three years. Following an Arctic freeze and a historically cold winter in many parts of the U.S., people are posting shockingly high bills on Reddit, Nextdoor, and TikTok. In addition to cold temperatures necessitating more power to heat homes, an aging grid, fuel-price backlash, and a once-in-a-generation investment cycle are hitting consumers. Consumer advocates estimate that residential electricity costs are up close to 30% for many households since 2021 once rate hikes, fees, and fuel adjustments are folded in.”
Pollster Reveals MAGA Is Splitting From Trump on Key Issue
Daily Beast(February 04, 2026)
“It found that 51 percent of respondents support utility-scale solar—large power plants that feed electricity into the grid—while 30 percent oppose it. Support jumps to 70 percent if the panels are domestically produced and free of Chinese components. Nearly seven in ten, 68 percent, also agree that all forms of electricity generation, including solar, are needed to keep costs low.”
The US doesn’t need to generate as much new electricity as you think
Grist (February 04, 2026)
“Specian says that one reason utilities tend to focus on the supply side of the equation is that they can often make more money that way. Building infrastructure is considered a capital investment, and utilities can pass that cost on to customers, plus an additional rate of return, or premium, which is typically around 10 percent. Energy-efficiency programs, however, are generally considered an operating expense, which aren’t eligible for a rate of return. This setup, he said, motivates utilities to build new infrastructure rather than conserve energy, even if the latter presents a more affordable option for ratepayers.”
Why US household energy bills are soaring – and how to fix it
The Guardian Opinion (February 02, 2026)
“Supporters claim these policies promote “energy independence”, but increasing reliance on global fuel markets while dismantling the lowest-cost sources of new domestic power and demand reduction does the opposite. The outcome is predictable: higher prices, greater volatility and protected fossil fuel profits, with households – especially low- and moderate-income families – left to pay the price. The result is that energy is becoming increasingly unaffordable.”
Tri-State says no thanks to federal orders to keep Craig coal power plant open
Colorado Sun (January 30, 2026)
“Tri-State Generation and partner Platte River Power Authority had a ‘respectful’ but emphatic response late Thursday to the Trump administration ordering them to keep Craig’s Unit 1 coal-fired plant open past the New Year: They don’t need it, they don’t want it, and their inflation-strapped consumers can’t afford the higher bills. Plus, the federal order is unconstitutional.”
Colorado Sun (January 30, 2026)
“A survey of 100 businesses in Golden by the Golden Chamber of Commerce tallied nearly $2 million in losses. ‘We know that that only accounts for a small portion of the business community,’ Nola Krajewski, the chamber’s president and CEO, told the PUC. The shut-off was for safety reasons so those losses aren’t reimbursed by Xcel Energy and since it was not caused by weather or property damage businesses can’t file an insurance claim. ‘I feel like a pawn in the game of liability between a billion-dollar energy giant and insurance companies that also report billions of dollars of profit,’ said Brandon Bortles, who owns two Golden restaurants Nosu Ramen and Abejas Bistro.”
Australia’s grid now relies on renewable energy as much as coal. Those who doubted it look foolish
The Guardian(January 30, 2026)
“It’s worth remembering how quickly this has changed. Five years ago renewables provided about 26% of generation. A decade ago it was less than 15%, with solar on less than 2%. McConnell says one of the most remarkable things this week was how well the system coped as temperatures in parts of Melbourne pushed north of 45C and demand for electricity skyrocketed as people ran air conditioners at full bore. These sorts of conditions are often a cue for warnings of blackouts or load shedding. Not this time.”
That Green ‘Scam’ Is The Top Source Of New U.S. Electricity
Forbes (January 26, 2026)
“Trump is pushing for more carbon energy extraction and consumption, and natural gas remains the biggest single source of electric power, though it’s forecast to dip below 40% over this year and next, while solar and wind combined continue to surpass coal at about 22% over the overall mix. Toss in nuclear and hydropower, and the portion of non-carbon U.S. electricity will likely top 45% this year, based on EIA projections.”
Trump promised to cut energy bills in half. One year later, has he delivered?
NPR (January 20, 2026)
“Some of the administration's moves could actually increase electricity bills in the future. Large solar and wind projects provide more cost-competitive energy than natural gas, nuclear and coal projects, according to financial services firm Lazard. But the Trump administration has ended federal tax credits for solar and wind projects early, and canceled more than $13 billion in funds for green energy projects.”
Elon Musk’s xAI datacenter generating extra electricity illegally, regulator rules
The Guardian (January 15, 2026)
“Methane gas turbines pump harmful nitrogen oxides into the air, which are known to cause cancer, asthma and other upper respiratory diseases…. For xAI, which makes the chatbot Grok, the turbines are necessary to supply additional power to its huge supercomputers. At full capacity, xAI’s Colossus 1 datacenter uses 150 megawatts of electricity – enough power to run 100,000 homes – and the company plans to expand.”
America’s Biggest Power Grid Operator Has an AI Problem—Too Many Data Centers
Wall Street Journal (January 12, 2026)
“America’s AI boom is pushing the nation’s largest power-grid operator to the brink of a supply crisis.”
'I had no electricity for six months': US families struggle with soaring energy prices
BBC (January 10, 2026)
“Average energy utility bills in the US exceed $260 per month, with averages hovering above $300 in some states in the Northeast, including New York, according to data compiled by the Century Foundation. Nearly one in 20 households in the US are at risk of having their utility debt sent to collections heading into the winter months, according to a recent report.”
Xcel Energy seeks natural gas rate hike just after proposing higher electric rates
Denver Post(January 8, 2026)
Home electricity bills are skyrocketing. For data centers, not so much.
Yale Climate Connections(January 5, 2026)
“But between 2020 and 2024, residential electricity prices in the U.S. increased by 25%. In other words, people using their toasters, laptops, and electric heating and cooking at home are paying ever-increasing prices, while the data centers that are driving rapid growth in electricity demand are scoring handsome discounts.”
Trump’s ’emergency’ Colorado coal plant order will raise electricity costs, operator says
Colorado Newsline (January 2, 2026)
“Following the Trump administration’s last-minute invocation of an energy ‘emergency’ to order a Colorado coal plant to postpone its scheduled retirement, the electricity provider that co-owns the plant is warning that the high costs of continuing to operate it will be shouldered by Colorado utility customers.”
How energy affordability took center stage in 2025
Canary Media (January 2, 2026)
“Americans are in the midst of a broader cost of living crisis, spurred by the first real bout of inflation in decades. Electricity bills have become a major driver of that worrisome trend, with costs rising at more than twice the rate of inflation over the last year, largely because it’s expensive to maintain, expand, and repair the grid. Now, President Donald Trump’s policies are making the bad situation worse — despite his frequent promises to bring down costs. On his first day in office, Trump declared an ’energy emergency,’ saying Americans faced an ’active threat’ from high energy prices and that the country needed an ’affordable and reliable domestic supply of energy’ to curb them. ‘Reliable’ is code for coal and gas in the Trump administration’s book. The U.S. Department of Energy has used the ’emergency’ to keep fossil-fueled power plants open past their retirement dates and to prop up the dying coal industry, at great expense to ratepayers. A Michigan coal plant that was supposed to shutter in May instead racked up $650,000 each day in costs for ratepayers after the DOE ordered it to keep running. That number will only grow as the plant runs through the winter.”
Fortune (January 1, 2026)
“Electricity supply is increasingly outpacing demand in Europe as renewable energy capacity grows, making negative prices a more frequent occurrence.”
Power Brokers: What’s really behind your soaring utility bills
Harpers Magazine (January 2026)
“I’ve spent the past year speaking to people in the utility industry, attending its conferences, and sounding out its critics. What I’ve found is that beneath the sector’s undeniable need for new and upgraded infrastructure lies a deeper problem concerning how the industry makes its money. When utilities earn substantial profits, one might expect customers to see some relief in their monthly bills. But as a result of the ownership model of the utilities that serve most Americans, this is rarely what happens. Rather, utilities earn substantial profits because regulators allow them to require ordinary people to pay more. Far from responding to an affordability crisis, electric utilities are helping to create it.”
Here comes another Xcel Energy rate hike. This time, the utility is asking to raise your gas bill.
Colorado Sun (December 20, 2025)
“If the request is approved, average residential customers will see their monthly gas bill rise 11.4% to $74.41, beginning in October, the start of the next heating season. Small commercial customers will see their bills go up 13% to $316.03, up $36.47 each month.”
Energy bills in US have increased 13% since Trump took office, new report finds
ABC News (December 15, 2025)
“Projects that were canceled or delayed since Trump’s election have led to a loss of 24,958.5 megawatts of planned energy generation, which could have powered more than 13.17 million homes, according to the report.”
What data centers really mean for Colorado’s future
Colorado Newsline (December 12, 2025)
“But even with efficiency improvements, the sheer scale of AI adoption means electricity demand is rising steeply, and the 1970s-era infrastructure we have isn’t built for the capacity of demand. Xcel projects that by 2040, data centers alone could require 8.5 gigawatts of power, roughly the equivalent of adding another Denver metro area to the grid.”
Colorado Sun (December 10, 2025)
“One basic problem is that data center projects are filing for more power than they will ultimately need and filing the same project with multiple utilities — ‘site shopping’ — to find where they can connect to the grid most quickly. About 90 gigawatts of peak data center demand requests are expected to be filed nationally between now and 2030, but only 65 GW will be needed, according to power sector consultant Gridwise Strategies. The risk is if a utility builds or contracts for power and the data center doesn’t get built, the rest of the customers will end up footing the bill.”
Trump’s AI dominance plans threatened by his own attacks on solar, wind
Bloomberg (December 04, 2025)
“So far, the quickest and cheapest way to address the growing strains on the power grid is through renewable energy, data shows.”
Data Center could use more power than DIA, leaving neighbors worried about power and water bills
Denver 7 (November 21, 2025)
“CoreSite — developers on the project — said the campus, which includes two other buildings throughout Denver, could use up to 75 megawatts of power. For context, Denver International Airport uses around 45 megawatts of power. The 180,000-square foot building currently under construction is located in a neighborhood historically known for being under served.”
This Is Why Your Energy Bills Are Going Up
New York Times Editorial Board (October 9, 2025)
“These advantages help explain why the right energy policy for the United States is an all-of-the-above strategy. The country should continue using fossil fuels like natural gas while shifting toward cleaner energy that does less damage to the planet. The combination can help Americans struggling with slow-growing incomes while also addressing climate change. President Trump, however, has rejected the all-of-the-above approach in his second term. He is instead waging a war on solar and wind power. It is a mirror image of the strategy that conservatives criticize the fringes of the environmental movement for favoring. Rather than trying to put oil companies out of business, Mr. Trump is going after clean energy, and Americans will face higher bills as a result.”
AI Data Centers Are Sending Power Bills Soaring
Bloomberg (September 29, 2025)
“A Bloomberg News analysis of wholesale electricity prices for tens of thousands of locations across the country reveals the effects of the AI boom on the power market with unprecedented granularity. The locations and prices were tracked and aggregated monthly by Grid Status, an energy data analytics platform. Bloomber analyzed this data in relation to data center locations, from DC Byte, and found that electricity now costs as much as 267% more for a single month than it did five years ago in areas located near significant data center activity."
AI Data Centers Are Coming for Your Land, Water and Power
CNET (September 24, 2025)
“So, regardless of the scale of a data center, if they get approved to build in any town, the utility must provide the energy needed to power it. A large customer moving into the area could also cause a ‘short-term constraint on the supply of energy.’ ‘That's going to push utility prices up for everyone who's a customer of that utility,’ Good says.”
Xcel Energy’s building boom, search for profits may send Colorado electricity bills soaring
Colorado Sun (August 19, 2025)
“Xcel Energy customers are facing the risk of their electricity rates doubling or even tripling as the company launches an unprecedented spending plan to build new generation and transmission and feed power-hungry data centers…. Xcel Energy makes money building plants and transmission lines and then getting a return, set by the PUC, on those capital investments. The more they build the more they earn.”
Fortune (August 22, 2025)
Colorado Sun (August 18, 2025)
“Xcel Energy is seeking to add 12 to 14 GW of new generation and transmission. The price tag is $22 billion. The question, however, is how much of that is real, for the risk is that Xcel Energy will build it and nobody — or at least not so many — will come.”
Wind and solar energy are cheaper than electricity from fossil-fuel plants, even without subsidies
Scientific American (June 17, 2025)
“‘As such, renewable energy will continue to play a key role in the buildout of new power generation in the U.S,’ the bank wrote. ‘This is particularly true in the current high power demand environment, where renewables stand out as both the lowest-cost and quickest-to-deploy generation resource.’"