Electricity prices have become a central storyline in upcoming U.S. elections. All over the country, Americans are finding it harder to pay their bills, and they’re getting increasingly cynical about utilities and data centers.
While governors are caught in the middle of this voter anger, there’s a group of key decisionmakers that are often missed: the 200 regulators that oversee tens of billions of dollars in utility spending.
In this episode, Charles Hua, the founder and executive director of PowerLines, walks through why that gap matters right now.
Utilities requested a record $31 billion in rate increases last year. And PowerLines’ newest research found that utilities are planning $1.4 trillion in capital expenditures by 2030. Hua dissects what is driving that spending, arguing that the real drivers of higher bills predate the data center boom.
Still, the data center effect is real. And state-level regulators are struggling to balance the need for economic development with the massive rate increase requests that utilities are throwing at them.
So how will electricity affordability shape elections? And, most importantly, how will it shape the way we pay for needed grid upgrades?
This conversation was recorded live at Latitude Media’s Transition-AI conference, moderated by editor Lisa Martine Jenkins.
Credits: Co-hosted by Stephen Lacey and Jigar Shah. Produced and edited by Stephen Lacey, Sean Marquand, and Anne Bailey.
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