By Sanya Carley, University of Pennsylvania; Alexandra Klass, University of Michigan; Alison L. Knasin, University of Pennsylvania; David Konisky, Indiana University; and Shelley Welton, University of Pennsylvania
For many Americans, energy bills are becoming increasingly unaffordable.
Energy prices increased approximately 30% on average from 2021 to 2026. In some places, the rates of increase have been much steeper. In the Mid-Atlantic and eastern Midwest region where several of us live, the regional electricity grid is run by PJM Interconnection, and power prices in the first quarter of 2026 were 76% higher than the same period in 2025.
These rising utility costs are a shock to many people, including those already having a hard time paying for the energy they need. In 2024, 1 in 3 American households reported struggling to pay their energy bills, and 15.1 million homes were disconnected from their electricity or gas services because the residents couldn’t pay their bill. Energy insecurity is a pervasive and potentially dangerous predicament for these millions of households, and a growing challenge for America as energy bills rise.
Energy markets, which we study, are famously complex. But many parties in these marketplaces, from the federal government to individual consumers, have opportunities to help provide Americans with affordable energy. Some may not be obvious to the casual observer, or even to savvy energy wonks.
Federal programs
The Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program helps households with lower incomes afford energy, particularly for heating in the winter and cooling in the summer. Historically, the funds provided by Congress – totaling about $4 billion in 2025 – have not been enough to help everyone in need. Yet in his last two budget proposals, President Donald Trump has proposed eliminating all of the program’s funding, though Congress has so far preserved the funding.
Another federal effort, the Weatherization Assistance Program, provides around $370 million a year to help people conserve energy by sealing gaps around windows and doors and increasing insulation in their homes. This program serves approximately 32,000 homes, saving each household an average of $372 in direct energy expenses each year.
Entities that run the electricity grid
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission and state public utility commissions jointly regulate the nation’s electricity grid. Federal law requires them to ensure that electricity prices and practices are “just and reasonable.” They can use their authority to ensure that the grid is built and run efficiently, that utilities do not earn outsized profits, and that electricity markets are producing fair electricity prices for consumers.
In most U.S. regions, nonprofit organizations collectively called “regional transmission organizations” are the front-line managers of the nation’s electricity grid. Under federal supervision, these utilities make rules for how to connect new power plants or other electricity generation equipment to the grid, how electricity markets run, and how transmission lines are planned and paid for.
These rules directly affect how much customers pay for power. Their implications have become clearer, as data center electricity demand has caused regional wholesale electricity market prices to soar.
Research suggests that better regional planning, accelerated permission for connecting new-generation sources, and updated market design could save consumers billions of dollars.
State governments
Many states prevent utilities from disconnecting residential customers’ electricity, even if the bills aren’t paid.
In Virginia, for example, utilities can’t cut power during periods of extreme hot or cold weather. In Montana, the restrictions cover specific months when cold weather is common. Pennsylvania prevents power cuts if someone in the home has a certified medical condition that makes them dependent on electricity – such as needing an oxygen tank, which can increase electricity bills by hundreds of dollars per year.
Many states, such as Maine, also run programs to weatherize homes and improve home efficiency. Illinois helps pay to install solar panels or battery storage systems in homes. These efforts lower energy bills either by directly reducing a home’s energy use or by offsetting some of that use.
These services and technologies lower energy bills by either reducing the total energy that a household needs to consume or offsetting their energy with a zero-fuel cost option. Some of us were a part of a team that in 2025 found low-income households across the United States that recently installed residential solar were 44% more likely to report being able to pay their energy bills relative to similar households that did not have solar.
Other states more directly supervise utility bills to ensure they remain within the household’s budget.
For instance, Illinois offers bill discounts for many low-income households that range from 5% to 84% savings on a customer’s gas bill. And other states, like Massachusetts, require utilities to partially forgive consumers’ debt after they make some number of on-time payments that also include some repayments of what is owed.
Utility companies
Utility companies can adopt billing and repayment policies that accommodate customers’ household budgets. They can also provide detailed, public information about these programs to their customers. Often, states place specific requirements on utilities’ policies, but companies can also choose to set their own billing practices.
Utilities can identify their customers most at risk of disconnection by analyzing customers’ payment data and consumption patterns, and offer to switch them to these plans, while also steering them toward bill and weatherization assistance. Some states, like New Jersey, automatically enroll customers who are either past-due or have been disconnected into utility payment plans.
Local communities
County and municipal governments can help their residents by spreading the word about federal, state and utility assistance programs and by identifying specific people or families who may be most in need. As two examples, they can use information about households’ use of other aid programs or examine data on who is calling 311 for local nonemergency assistance.
Many communities also operate warming or cooling centers for people who cannot afford to turn on their air conditioning or heating during times of extreme temperatures. These spaces can also be safe locations for people during power outages.
And local nonprofits can support people who need help with energy costs find other support, such as food banks and low-cost transportation, which can help relieve other sources of financial stress.
Local organizations can also couple energy aid with other housing and social services, including job training, for more holistic supports for struggling households and communities.
Residents and customers
Consumers themselves have a key role in energy affordability too. First, they can avoid wasting energy by turning off lights and rarely used appliances, or washing clothes with cold water and hanging them to dry. But that isn’t likely to make a significant difference. So they can seek out help from the government, utility companies and local nonprofits.
If people have some money available, they can also invest in technologies or services that will help them keep their bills lower, such as weatherization, efficient appliances or residential solar panels.
No entity can single-handedly solve the energy affordability crisis. U.S. energy markets are highly decentralized, and high prices are the result of many factors, only some of which can be addressed through government and corporate policies and programs.
We believe, however, that complexity cannot be an excuse for inaction, because energy is essential for people’s health and well-being.
Sanya Carley is a presidential distinguished professor of energy policy and city planning at the University of Pennsylvania; Alexandra Klass is the James G. Degnan professor of law at the University of Michigan; Alison L. Knasin is lab manager of the Energy Justice Lab at the University of Pennsylvania; David Konisky is Lynton K. Caldwell professor of public affairs at Indiana University, and Shelley Welton is a professor of law and energy policy at the University of Pennsylvania.
This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article. Banner photo: A row of electric meters (iStock image).
