In Arizona, where summer temperatures regularly hit triple digits, air conditioning can be a matter of life and death.
asserted
conditioning → hit → life
This year, as the state recorded its hottest summer on record, Diali Avila’s monthly power bill went up to $400, the highest it has ever been.
asserted
it → record → 400
Avila, the state director for Climate Power, an advocacy group, said the upcoming elections offered voters an opportunity to elect candidates who can ease their utility bills.
asserted
who → say → bills
“People are making the connection: they’re looking at their electricity bills that they get at the end of the month, and then they’re looking at their ballot, and they’re [realizing], this is my moment to take action,” she said.
asserted
she → make → action
Avila is among several clean energy and consumer advocates who say soaring bills such as hers – along with broader questions about affordability – could help move votes in November, as Democrats across the country seek to retake control of Congress.
uncertain
Democrats → say → Congress
“This midterm election cycle has the potential to become the first election cycle where electricity and utility bills become a top tier national political issue,” said Charles Hua, founder and executive director of PowerLines, a national non-partisan non-profit that aims to modernize utility regulations.
asserted
that → have → regulations
“We’re entering a new politics of electricity.”
asserted
We → enter → electricity
National average electricity prices have increased about 10%, in the last two years, according to federal figures, and a recent Pew survey found 74% of Americans said they were “very concerned” about gas and energy prices.
uncertain
they → increase → prices
A new poll from left-leaning Hart Research found that voters in battleground districts ranked utility bills among the three most important issues in the upcoming midterms.
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voters → lean → midterms
The cost of energy has always been a political issue in America, but historically it has focused on the gas pump, said Hua.
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Hua → focus → pump
However, in recent years energy demands from datacenters, an ageing grid in need of repairs, climate emergencies such as wildfires and hurricanes that further weaken the grid, and the war in Ukraine has pushed up electric bills.
asserted
that → age → bills
(The war in Iran, meanwhile, has raised the price of gas).
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war → raise → gas
Power bills are one part of a broader concern about affordability that has dominated this midterm cycle, said Geoffrey Henderson, who has researched candidate messaging on climate and energy this election.
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who → dominate → climate
“Utility bills were already on people’s minds in prior election cycles, but what’s changed is that datacenters are being proposed and advanced at such a fast rate, and there’s been so much community-level opposition to the datacenters that I think it’s elevating the utility bill question,” Henderson said.
asserted
Henderson → change → question
In several races, Democrats are tying their opponents to those high utility bills and datacenters.
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Democrats → tie → bills
In Ohio, which has the fourth highest number of datacenters of any state, Sherrod Brown, the Democratic candidate for Senate, has run ads calling Jon Husted, his incumbent, Republican opponent, the “face of datacenters”, connecting his support for the industry to rising electricity bills.
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Brown → have → bills
Electricity rates have gone up by 34% in Ohio since 2022, according to state figures, and a new poll from Ohio Northern University found 55% of Ohio residents oppose datacenter construction; 79% believe datacenters will drive up water and electricity costs.
uncertain
datacenters → go → costs
Husted served as lieutenant governor in an administration that offered tax breaks to bring datacenters to the state, but in July, introduced a bill he said would help prevent utilities from shifting datacenter costs on to ratepayers; Senate Democrats blocked the bill, calling it “toothless”.
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Democrats → serve → it
In a leaked memo from 18 August, Republican strategists acknowledged: “More than any other thing in this race, datacenters are the anchor hanging around Husted’s neck.”
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datacenters → leak → neck
“This is an issue that has legs in rural Ohio, and I think it’s going to really help [Brown] close the margin in some of those Republican areas,” said Spencer Dirrig, vice-president of government affairs for the Ohio Environmental Council Action Fund Pac, which backs more regulations on datacenters.
asserted
which → have → datacenters
In the state’s tight race for governor, both candidates – Democrat Amy Acton and Republican Vivek Ramaswamy – say they would support halting new datacenters until new regulations come into effect.
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regulations → say → effect
Acton has criticized Ramaswamy for holding investments in the datacenter-related industry, calling it a conflict of interest; Ramaswamy has said he would divest if elected.
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he → criticize → interest
(Acton herself held stock in companies tied to datacenters, but her campaign says she sold off individual stocks earlier this year to avoid conflicts of interest)
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she → hold → interest
Acton has also said she would appoint commissioners to state utilities who would focus on lowering consumer costs, a move Dirrig says could have a real impact on Ohioans’ wallets.
uncertain
Dirrig → say → wallets
“If you want the clearest possible connection between your vote and your energy bill, it’s who you elect to be governor and who they appoint to be the public utilities chair,” he said.
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he → want → who
Ramawasmy has not publicly said who he would appoint, and his campaign did not respond to a request for comment.
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campaign → say → comment
In Michigan, the Democratic Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed has sought to tie his opponent, Mike Rogers to DTE Energy, the state’s unpopular, large private utility.
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candidate → seek → Energy
El-Sayed has gone after Rogers for accepting donations from the company, which has been criticized for rate hikes and frequent outages as it signs contracts with datacenters.
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it → go → datacenters
DTE did not respond to a request for comment.
asserted
DTE → respond → comment
A statewide ballot measure would ban regulated utilities such as DTE Energy from contributing to politicians; El-Sayed has said he supports the measure, while Rogers has not taken a public stance.
asserted
Rogers → ban → stance
Rogers did not respond to a request for comment.
asserted
Rogers → respond → comment
“[El-Sayed] has done a good job of making himself an anti-DTE candidate,” said Brian Geiringer, executive director of Ann Arbor for Public Power, which is advocating for replacing DTE with a public utility.
asserted
which → do → utility
“He often names DTE explicitly.”
asserted
He → name → DTE
In Ann Arbor, a ballot measure proposes replacing DTE Energy altogether with a public utility; the city’s mayor and city council have opposed the measure.
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mayor → propose → measure
Despite these headwinds, Geiringer said the measure touches on a resonant theme this election season.
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measure → say → theme
“Paying your monthly bill and having your power go out in DTE territory all the time certainly is one of the most salient [examples] of corporations taking your money.”
asserted
corporations → pay → money
In Arizona’s sixth congressional district, which covers suburban Tucson, advocacy groups have run ads against the incumbent Republican Juan Ciscomani, saying his vote for the One Big Beautiful Act would increase residents’ utility bills by more than $200 a year and cut clean energy production.
asserted
vote → cover → production
(The $200 figure is based on an estimate from the left-leaning Center for American Progress.)
asserted
figure → base → Progress
Democrat JoAnna Mendoza, who is seeking to unseat Ciscomani, supports investments in clean energy and says her “top concern” is that constituents have the ability to pay for energy to cool their homes.
asserted
constituents → seek → homes
In October, the Cook Political Report shifted its outlook on the race from “toss-up” to “leans Democratic”.
asserted
Report → shift → Democratic
…and 8 more, not listed.
The Aporia
