Data Centers and Power Bills Collide in US Midterm Races

Electricity bills have become a political fight in the United States. With midterm elections approaching, voters are angry about rising energy costs, and questions about how giant data centers affect power prices are moving to the center of campaigns.

According to the US Energy Information Administration, household electricity prices have risen by more than 10% nationwide since Donald Trump was elected in 2024, faster than prices for other goods and services. In Ohio, Michigan and Pennsylvania the pressure has been sharper, with bills in some cases climbing at more than three times the rate of inflation. These are also major destinations for data center projects, which consume enormous amounts of power.

Candidates target utilities

Candidates are proposing price freezes and lower guaranteed returns for utilities. In Ohio, Democratic gubernatorial candidate Amy Acton has promised to cut energy bills, appoint a utilities commission free of industry influence and back a halt to new data centers. Residential bills in the state have risen by more than 20% in two years. Her Republican rival, Vivek Ramaswamy, has pledged that residents near data centers will not be charged for their electricity.

In Pennsylvania, Governor Josh Shapiro said in April that PECO Energy agreed to withdraw a rate increase request after he pressed it to do so, which he said would lower future bills by up to $34 a month. In New Jersey, Mikie Sherrill won last year after promising a utility bill freeze and carried it out on her first day in office. Virginia, home to the world's largest cluster of data centers, has seen Governor Abigail Spanberger take a similar approach.

Industry pushes back

Utilities plan to file rate increase requests worth $31 billion this year, matching last year's record, according to a survey by Power Lines. Investor-owned companies plan close to $1.3 trillion in capital spending over the next five years, S&P Global estimates.

The Edison Electric Institute's Drew Maloney argues that grids need steady yearly investment and cannot be subject to election cycles. In June, Fitch Ratings lowered its outlook for North American utilities from stable to deteriorating, citing political pressure to curb bills and profits.

Power Lines executive director Charles Hua says the real shift in utility policy will become clear only after the vote.