Energy Prices and Utilities

An Associated Press investigation from Rainelle, West Virginia, details how winter 2025–26 electric bills in one of the nation’s poorest, most energy‑rich states have surged so high that some now exceed residents’ mortgages, directly undercutting President Donald Trump’s repeated promise to halve Americans’ power bills within his first 12 to 18 months back in office. The piece anchors individual cases — like a woman on a fixed income facing a $940 February bill despite aggressive conservation — in nationwide data showing February electricity prices up 4.8% and piped natural gas up 10.9% year‑over‑year, outpacing general inflation even before Iran‑war‑driven energy spikes. It reports that rising fuel costs, extreme weather, and utilities’ spending on aging infrastructure are converging with a new wave of requested rate hikes that nonprofit PowerLines estimates could hit more than 80 million U.S. customers. The story also cites a March AP‑NORC poll finding 35% of adults are extremely or very worried about affording electricity in coming months and notes that power prices have already become a live campaign issue in recent governor’s races and are expected to loom large in the 2026 midterms. On social media, West Virginians are posting screenshots of shocking bills, demanding explanations from regulators and Trump, and questioning why a state that exports energy is saddling its own residents with crushing utility costs.