Affordability has moved from a background worry to the defining issue in the electricity provider-consumer relationship. According to a report from the Smart Energy Consumer Collaborative (SECC), the crisis is real, unequal and poorly understood, and the tools to address it already exist but are not reaching the people who need them most.

Roughly half of Americans saw their electricity bill rise over the past year, and nearly one-third struggled to pay it at some point. That burden falls hardest on low-income households, 48% of whom struggled to pay compared with just 18% of medium and higher-income households, according to SECC.

However, the problem is also one of understanding: Fewer than three in ten consumers strongly agree they know what actually drives their bill, and, in that vacuum, 42% default to blaming rate increases, even when usage, weather, and seasonality are often the larger factors.

The survey was based on a nationally representative survey of 4,021 American household energy decision-makers fielded April-May 2026, according to a release from SECC.

Despite the scale of the challenge, the report finds that energy affordability is far from unsolvable. The research findings highlight several opportunities for electricity providers, regulators and other stakeholders to better support residential customers during the affordability crisis:

• Consumers are willing to act: 92% have taken at least one energy saving step at home, but many lack time, confidence or clarity about actual savings to take further steps.
• Bill literacy remains low: Less than 30% of consumers strongly understand what drives their total bill, leading many consumers to default to blaming rate increases.
• Programs work when people know about them: Adoption often exceeds 50% among consumers when they are aware of bill management or assistance offerings.
• Awareness is a roadblock: Most programs remain unfamiliar to the majority of customers, despite strong interest and high usage among those who know they exist.
• The bill is the top outreach channel: Consumers overwhelmingly prefer to learn about programs through their monthly bill, making it the highest leverage communication tool.

The research surfaces a hopeful counterpoint: Demand is not the constraint. Among consumers who know a bill-assistance or management program exists, adoption is strong, often reaching well over half of the aware population. The failure is one of visibility and access rather than appeal as most provider services are known to fewer than four in ten consumers.

Providers then have an opportunity to turn to what consumers consider the top outreach channel to learn about programs, the bill, which is also their most preferred way to hear about them, making it the single highest-leverage, and most underused, tool providers have.

Affordability stress is also not confined to low-income households, and a one-size-fits-all strategy leaves most customers underserved. Low-income households prioritize discounted rates, flexible payment terms, and simplified enrollment, while medium and higher-income households, who are largely ineligible for income-based assistance, gravitate toward budget billing, time-of-use rates, and demand response programs that reward smarter usage. Across every segment, however, consumers hold providers responsible for keeping energy affordable and helping them save, making this a shared expectation regardless of income.

Four strategic imperatives emerge for providers: (1) build a multi-tier affordability strategy rather than a single-program fix; (2) turn every bill into an enrollment opportunity while supplementing it with other channels; (3) simplify access and consider auto-enrollment programs, especially for the households that need it most; and (4) proactively educate customers on what actually drives their bills. Providers who act on these findings have an opportunity to convert a source of customer frustration into a foundation of trust.