Rising Electricity Bills Are Straining Household Finances—Forcing Many to Consider Tradeoffs, Including Cutting Grocery Budgets, New Consumer Reports Survey Finds

YONKERS, NY - 10/21/2026 - Electricity bills are squeezing American households, with many families looking into cutting back on groceries, skipping meals out, or reducing heating or cooling just to keep the lights on, according to a new nationally representative survey of 2,003 US adults from Consumer Reports (CR). The survey, part of CR's just launched Power Smarter initiative, finds that Americans have clear expectations when it comes to utilities: costs should be allocated fairly, consumers should retain meaningful protections and control, and households should not be asked to absorb financial risks created by utilities or large electricity users.

Most Americans who have lived in the same house for at least three years say their bills have climbed in that time, and many have had to make critical sacrifices as a result. Nationwide, Americans are skeptical that the system is working in their favor. They are most likely to point to utility company profits and increased energy demand from rapid data center and AI system expansion as the top drivers behind electricity costs, and the vast majority have little or no trust that state regulators will protect their interests.

Unlike other goods and services, Americans can't just shop around for a better price. Utility companies operate as monopolies and leave households with no choice but to pay an excessive price for a service they can't live without.

CONSUMER REPORTS ENERGY FAIRNESS SURVEY HIGHLIGHTS

Americans are feeling strained by rising electricity bills.

• Most Americans who have lived in the same home for at least three years (81%) said their electricity bills have increased during that time.
  • Over a quarter of Americans (28%) said their electricity bills increased between 20 and 49% in the past three years.
    • Another quarter (26%) said their bills increased by less than 20%
    • 6% of Americans said their electricity bills increased by 50% or more in the same period.
• Among those whose bills increased, around 3 in 4 said the increase strained their household's finances.
  • Americans with annual household incomes below $85,000 were more than twice as likely as those with higher incomes to say the increase strained their finances a lot.

Households are doing what they can to keep bills low, but individual actions aren't enough to offset record high utility rates.

• A majority of Americans said they had made or considered at least one tradeoff or sought help to pay an electricity bill in the past two years.
  • About 1 in 4 had cut back or looked into cutting back on non-essential spending, like eating out and travel
  • About 1 in 4 had reduced heating or cooling to uncomfortable levels
  • About 1 in 5 said they had cut back on groceries or switched to less expensive food options, or looked into doing so.
  • About 1 in 5 said they looked up (or considered looking up) whether their utility company had programs that would reduce their costs.

While Americans recognize that several factors affect home electricity costs, utility company profits was the factor Americans most commonly said affects what they pay for electricity at home.

• Utility company profits was the factor Americans most commonly said affects what they pay for electricity at home (45%). Other common responses included increased demand from data centers and AI systems (38%), frequently changing fossil fuel prices (37%), and costs to update and repair energy infrastructure (36%).

These concerns point to a real risk: without strong oversight, utility companies will continue to increase their profits by pushing unnecessary costs onto U.S. households.

• About 3 in 4 Americans said they trust state utility regulators only a little or not at all to protect the interests of people like them.
  • Just 1% said they trust regulators completely.

Americans want the costs and risks to stay with the corporate entities that create them-not residential customers.

• About half of Americans said it is unacceptable for utilities to pass any expenses on to residential customers through higher rates-that is, utilities should not charge for anything beyond the costs of producing and delivering energy for residential customers. This did not differ by political leaning.
• When utilities invest in infrastructure to prepare for or recover from natural disasters, half of Americans said they should receive either no profit or less profit than they usually make on major investments.

This was especially clear for data centers: Americans broadly supported having large electricity users pay more for the infrastructure they require. Notably, many of these views were consistent across political lines.

• Americans generally said the financial risks and infrastructure costs associated with data centers should not fall on residential customers.
  • Half said data centers should pay all costs of infrastructure built mainly to serve them, and another 39% said they should pay more of the costs than other customers.
  • If a data center closes, nearly half said it should still be required to cover the full cost of infrastructure built for it.
  • If utilities build infrastructure before any data center has committed to locating in the area, 69% said the utility should bear the cost until a data center comes online.
• A vast majority of Americans (84%) would support their local electricity utility creating a separate rate category for large users such as data centers.

Americans want energy that is reliable and affordable above all else.

• Among Americans who actually read their bills, about 38% said their electricity bills are very difficult or somewhat difficult to understand.
• A majority of Americans said utilities should prioritize helping customers improve energy efficiency before producing more electricity.
• Regardless of political affiliation, about 9 in 10 Americans want appliances to have a minimum level of energy efficiency.
• Americans are more inclined toward a renewable energy future than a fossil-fuel-led one-but affordability and reliability remain the dominant priorities.
  • Over a third (36%) of Americans said the U.S. should prioritize building more renewable energy sources in the next few years, while only 9% favored building new energy sources with mostly or entirely non-renewable sources. One in four (24%) said the mix did not matter as long as electricity was reliable and affordable.

"Americans are being asked to foot the bill for costs they didn't create and can't control. This survey shows people see through that. They want the costs and risks to stay with the corporate entities that create them-not residential customers," said Sara Enright, Senior Director, Safety & Energy at Consumer Reports.

Building on 90 Years of Energy Advocacy

This survey builds on CR's 90-year history of fighting for fair, affordable energy. The organization's first refrigerator review showed how energy efficient appliances can help lower electricity bills, and in the decades since, CR's advocacy has helped pass landmark efficiency laws that have saved consumers billions of dollars. Today, that work continues through Power Smarter, CR's initiative to hold the energy system accountable by pushing back on the unfair cost-shifting that leaves households absorbing excessive costs fueled by corporate profits.