Swing-state households paying $50 to $60 more a month for energy as midterms near, Reuters analysis finds
Reuters analysis based on EIA data finds households in eight battleground states are paying $50 to $60 more a month for power and petrol than a year ago, three days before the 3 November midterms.
Households in the American states most likely to decide control of Congress are paying $50 to $60 more a month for power and petrol than they did a year ago, according to a Reuters analysis published on Saturday that draws on United States Energy Information Administration (EIA) data. The finding lands three days before the 3 November midterm elections, when voters will decide the House of Representatives and the Senate, and it sharpens a campaign in which the cost of living has become one of the central issues.
Across Michigan, Georgia, Pennsylvania, Nevada, Arizona, North Carolina, Wisconsin and Ohio, combined household spending on power and motor fuel rose by between 13% and 17% in the first seven months of 2026 compared with a year earlier, the EIA figures cited by Reuters show. The average American household spent about $456 a month on electricity and petrol combined in that period, roughly $54 a month more than a year ago, an increase of about 14%. In the swing states, monthly costs rose by $42 in Wisconsin, $50 in Michigan, $51 in Georgia, $59 in North Carolina and Pennsylvania, $60 in Ohio, $61 in Nevada and $62 in Arizona.
The pressure comes from two different directions, Reuters argues. One is sudden and global, and the other is slow and local. Petrol prices, which voters see displayed on signs along every main street, have been pushed up by the war with Iran, which began on 28 February and disrupted shipments through the Strait of Hormuz. Since then, pump prices have climbed to levels not seen since the summer of 2022, and estimated household spending on petrol in the swing states was up by 19% to 23% in the first nine months of this year.
In September alone, the squeeze was sharper still. Spending in Georgia, Ohio and North Carolina was about 40% higher than a year earlier, while spending in Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin was up by more than a third. Nevada households face the highest fuel bill of the eight key swing states, at roughly $360 a month this year, compared with around $300 a month in 2025. Georgia, by contrast, sells some of the cheapest petrol in the country, yet its households still face monthly bills of around $324 this year, compared with around $260 a month in 2025, because they drive far more than average, about 91 gallons a month against about 66 gallons for the average American household, according to Federal Highway Administration data.
Electricity tells a different story, one shaped less by world events than by decisions closer to home. Average residential power bills in the swing states rose by between 15% and 58% since 2019, according to the EIA, and by an average of around 7% year on year across the eight states. Pennsylvania now has the highest average power bill of the eight, at about $182 a month, up 12% from last year and up 58% since 2019. Ohio is not far behind, with bills up 9.4% from a year ago and up 53% since 2019.
Both Pennsylvania and Ohio sit inside PJM, the country's largest power grid operator, serving 13 states and Washington, DC. Its capacity auctions, which pay power plants to remain available to meet future demand, have set three consecutive pricing records this year. Reuters notes that some of the upward pressure reflects rising demand from data centres, but that grid investment, natural gas prices and power plant retirements have also played a part. Michigan saw bills rise by 8% this year as regulators approved rate rises for utilities serving millions of customers, while North Carolina rose by 6% and Wisconsin and Arizona by 5% each.
There are exceptions that show how local regulation matters. Georgia's power bills barely moved this year, up by about 1%, but that followed six rate increases in two years and a voter backlash that cost two incumbents their seats on the state's utility commission in 2025. Nevada has the lowest power bills of the eight states, and prices have risen the least since 2019. Its rates actually fell last year, and this summer's increase came mostly from heavier air-conditioning use rather than higher prices, while large solar farms, which can generate more than half of daytime electricity supplies during the summer, have helped push bills lower by displacing natural gas during daylight hours.
The political question is who voters blame. A recent Reuters/Ipsos poll cited in the analysis found that 78% of Americans blame President Donald Trump's policies for rising prices that are outpacing their earnings, with tariffs and the Iran war bearing the brunt of the blame. Separately, an Associated Press-NORC survey has found affordability to be one of the defining issues of the campaign, with about eight in ten registered voters wanting the next Congress to make reducing the cost of living one of its highest priorities. Reuters also cites a Reuters/Ipsos finding that 77% of people polled earlier this year cited concern over rising electricity costs as a chief reason for opposing data centres.
Responsibility for energy prices is unusually fragmented, which complicates the politics. Electricity rates are generally approved by state utility regulators, who in most swing states are appointed by governors, although in Georgia and Arizona they are elected. Wholesale power costs are shaped by regional grid operators such as PJM, which answer to federal regulators, while petrol prices are set largely by global crude markets, with state fuel taxes explaining most of the gap between states. That means governors' races in Pennsylvania, Ohio, Michigan, Nevada and Wisconsin bear directly on electricity, because they determine who sits on the commissions that approve rate increases, while Senate races bear more on federal energy, trade and foreign policy, which shape what happens at the pump.
With the election only days away, Reuters concludes that no relief is in sight. Electricity costs continue to be pulled higher by rising consumption from technology firms and manufacturers as well as grid upgrades by utilities, while petrol remains hostage to events in the Middle East. Whoever wins on Tuesday will inherit these bills, the analysis says, even though their ability to do much about them will be limited. For voters in states where elections are decided at the margin, the argument is simple: a restaurant meal or a holiday can be skipped, but the drive to work and the air conditioning in a triple-digit Phoenix summer cannot.
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