80% of Americans Feel ‘Helpless’ as Utilities File Billions in Rate Requests

A new PowerLines-Ipsos poll finds fewer than 1 in 3 Americans trust their state government to protect their interests

It’s hard to get 74% of Americans to agree on much, but a new PowerLines-Ipsos poll found this is how many are concerned about rising electricity bills. That number cuts across all political affiliations and income levels.

Most respondents (61%) said their energy bills have added to their financial stress, and 52% said changes to their utility bills have impacted their spending habits.

The national poll conducted for PowerLines by the nonpartisan polling company Ipsos, surveyed 2,045 American adults, including 1,912 electric ratepayers, from March 14 to 16, 2026.

Key findings included that more than 2 in 3 Americans saw their electricity or gas bill climb over the past year. Further, 3 in 4 Americans are concerned their bills will continue to increase.

They may be correct to worry as meanwhile, utilities have filed for $9.4 billion in rate increase requests during the first quarter of 2026, which could impact more than 81 million customers across the country. Compare this with the $31 billion in rate increases utilities requested in 2025 — a record, and double that of the previous year.

Concerningly, 80% of Americans say they feel helpless to control how much they are charged for their utilities.

“Utility consumers are feeling the squeeze, and the numbers back them up. Bills keep rising and people feel powerless to stop it,” said Charles Hua, Founder and Executive Director of PowerLines. “Our polling shows that trust in both utilities and government regulators has eroded significantly. Policymakers have a critical opening to act but only if they are willing to demand real accountability and deploy cost-effective solutions that can actually lower bills.”

Only 29% of respondents agreed that their state government does a good job protecting their interests when it comes to regulating local electric or gas utilities—a drop of nearly ten percentage points from last year’s PowerLines-Ipsos poll. Just 17% believe their utility company puts consumers’ interests over its own.

“A clear pattern stands out from this research: Americans are uneasy about rising utility costs,” said Mallory Newall, Senior Vice President of Public Affairs at Ipsos. “This concern cuts across income levels and political affiliation, underscoring how widespread the issue has become.”

“Power bills have been rising relentlessly for the past five years and are now reaching a crisis stage. There are many reasons, but politicians who ignore this issue are sleeping on a volcano,” said former FERC Chair Mark Christie.

“Increased costs in every part of the family budget have people feeling squeezed, and a lot of households are unable to keep up with rising energy costs. We’re seeing a lot more concerns about utility bills compared with even just a few years ago,” said Annie Levenson-Falk, Executive Director of the Minnesota Citizens Utility Board.