As electric bills continue to rise, a growing number of households are cutting back on grocery purchases and even restricting their heating and cooling usage.
According to a recent survey released by Consumer Reports, 1 in 5 consumers have reduced their food budgets or considered buying cheaper food to afford their electricity bills, while 1 in 4 have cut back on heating and cooling to an uncomfortable degree or considered doing so.
The burden has been particularly intensified by recent spikes in electricity costs. Among respondents who have lived in the same home for at least three years, 81% reported that their electricity bills had increased during that period. Furthermore, 28% stated that their bills had jumped by 20% to nearly 50%.
About 75% of respondents who experienced rising electricity costs said the rate hikes caused a financial strain on their household budgets. Households with an annual income of less than $85,000 were more than twice as likely to report severe financial pressure from rising electricity costs compared to higher-income households.
Regarding the causes of higher electricity prices, 45% of respondents pointed to utility company profits as the primary factor. This was followed by rising electricity demand from data centers and artificial intelligence (AI) systems at 38%, fossil fuel price fluctuations at 37%, and power infrastructure maintenance and modernization costs at 36%.
Distrust toward regulatory agencies overseeing electricity rates was also high. Approximately 75% of respondents expressed little or no confidence that state utility regulators would protect consumer interests, while only 1% reported complete trust in regulatory bodies.
There was overwhelming support for strengthening cost burdens on large power consumers, particularly data centers whose electricity consumption is surging due to the spread of the AI industry. Eighty-four percent of respondents favored establishing a separate electricity pricing structure targeting large electricity users like data centers.
Additionally, 50% of respondents stated that data centers should cover the entire cost of power infrastructure built specifically to support their operations, while 39% said they should shoulder a larger share of the costs than general consumers.
