Josh Weiner
Fuel prices have dominated much of the political conversation heading into this year’s midterm elections, but spiking electricity and natural gas bills may end up being the more decisive factor for voters, marking the first election cycle in recent memory where utility costs themselves have become a ballot-box issue.
US electricity prices have climbed roughly 40% on average over the past five years, and utilities have already requested another $23.1 billion in rate increases through the first three quarters of 2026, putting this year on pace to match 2025’s record-setting total of nearly $31 billion in requested increases.
Electricity and natural gas bills were already leading the country in inflation even before the Iran war added further pressure, and the resulting backlash has helped fuel growing public scrutiny of AI and data center electricity demand, even though data centers account for only part of the rising bills in many regions.
On the fuel side, regular gasoline has averaged $4.331 per gallon nationally, up $1.270 from a year earlier, while diesel has climbed to an average of $6.179 per gallon, up $2.514 year over year, keeping pump prices squarely in the political conversation alongside utility costs.
Energy costs, spanning both fuel and utility bills, have become a factor in a number of competitive House and Senate races, including contests in Michigan, Ohio, Alaska, Colorado and Pennsylvania, where rising household energy costs are shaping up as a potential deciding factor in tight races.
With both gas pump prices and monthly utility bills climbing simultaneously, candidates in competitive races are facing pressure on two fronts at once, a combination that political strategists say could prove more politically potent than either issue would be on its own.
