September 10, 2026

Written by Gavin Loyd

In Spring, Carnegie Mellon University hosted its annual Energy Week; energy leaders from across the country met to discuss the most pressing issues facing the energy sector, with an emphasis on strategies to sustainably decarbonize the U.S. grid.

Not surprisingly, a lot of these conversations focused on the particular pressures on energy prices created by data center buildout.

While discussions among energy specialists may not capture everyone’s attention, the majority of us are acutely aware of our monthly electricity bill. Affordability is increasingly a top public issue.

From 2020 to 2025, average yearly residential electricity rates in the Ohio River Valley increased significantly. In our four-state region of Kentucky, Ohio, Pennsylvania and West Virginia residential electricity prices rose between 21.9% in Kentucky to 42.3% in Pennsylvania. Three out of four states, Pennsylvania (42.3%), Ohio (37.9%), and West Virginia (31%), saw a five-year increase that exceeded the national price hike of 30%.

ReImagine’s own analysis, published late last year, found that energy costs rose across all four states between January and September 2025, with increases ranging from 8% to 16%.

This steep rise in electricity bills means that some people are risking their health through insufficient heating/cooling of their homes, and are forced to choose between paying these bills and buying food and medicine. The affordability crisis is at the front of everyone’s minds. In light of Energy Week and the discussions there, including a panel on affordability, I’d like to explore some of the affordability work being done.

Initiatives for Affordability

Targeted Bill Relief

Before we get into the impacts of data centers, let’s look at some of the immediate avenues available to lower residential electric bills.

Continuous access to electricity is a necessity to stay at healthy temperatures, cook, use the internet, and more. Low-income households do not have the flexibility to eliminate their electricity bills absent full disconnection. If you want to lower bills with more efficient appliances, it costs money upfront that a lot of us can’t afford, especially when compared to rising fixed energy costs.

Due in particular to cuts in energy efficiency programs by the Trump administration, improving a house’s insulation, installing solar panels, or upgrading to energy-efficient heating and cooling systems is financially out of reach for most low-income families.

Researchers and consumer advocates have identified that targeted programs and funds to these households can help them pay their immediate bills and reduce individual energy poverty. These approaches tend to fall into two categories with low-income requirements.

Reduce, Defer, Forgive: Many programs reduce the total burden on consumers’ electricity bill by capping bills, discounting electricity rates, or forgiving portions of utility debt. The federal Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) provides so-called block grants to each state which, in turn, uses the funds to run its own version of home energy assistance. For example, Pennsylvania’s Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) provides cash grants directly applied to a low-income applicant’s utility provider to offset costs. These programs can be temporary or long-term with the goal of protecting households and giving them the chance to get on a stable bill schedule.
Energy-Efficiency programs: Utilities, public utility commissions, and various governments can invest the upfront capital to pay for energy-efficient upgrades. Weatherization, repairs, ENERGY STAR products, are all viable options that reduce households’ energy bills.

Data Centers’ Impacts on Utility Bills (Cost Allocation and System-Wide Changes)

An electricity bill is dependent on more than the individual usage of appliances. Things like the cost of local utilities acting to build new transmission and distribution lines can make up 40% of your bill. Lagging new power...

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