What to Know For Election Night: The Energy Affordability Crisis Republicans Created is on the Ballot 

Washington, DC — In 2024, Trump and Republicans ran on a promise to slash energy costs, but instead, in under two years, they created an energy affordability crisis that will cost them the midterm elections. From gutting clean energy projects just when America needed more power, to starting a war of choice in Iran after making us even more dependent on oil, American families are paying more thanks to Republicans’ reckless energy policies. 

Democrats are using skyrocketing utility bills as a “midterm weapon” and making energy costs central to their campaigns. While Republicans have rubber-stamped Trump’s cost-raising energy agenda, Democrats and voters are holding them accountable for their broken promises. 

Here’s what to know as election results roll in tomorrow: 

• According to Climate Power’s AdImpact data, over $475 million has been spent on political ads about utility and energy bills in the first ten months of 2026, including more than $149 million in the third quarter alone.
  • In the 2024 election cycle, 87% of ads mentioning gas prices in House and Senate races were run by Republicans. This year, 76% of ads mentioning gas prices have come from Democratic candidates or groups, according to AdImpact’s data.
  • In the most competitive races, 32% of all recent Democratic ad spending went to ads mentioning energy affordability-related issues, while Republicans are at just 12%.
• According to AdImpact’s data, spending on political ads mentioning skyrocketing utility bills has roughly doubled each quarter, as Democratic campaigns lean on energy affordability as a winning issue. Democratic advertisers accounted for about 72% of utility-cost ad spend in Q3.
  • In Q3, spending jumped significantly, particularly in states like Ohio, Michigan and Pennsylvania. 
• Energy costs are two of voters’ top-three most important voting issues ahead of the midterms.

• Trump’s approval rating is at just 35%, as a majority of Americans blame him for the cost-of-living crisis driven by sky-high gas and utility prices. 
• 54% of voters say Republicans are making things worse for consumers on energy prices. 
• Voters now trust Democrats to lower energy prices and improve energy policy in this election. Since the beginning of this year, Democrats have gained voters’ trust to lower utility bills (+15), lower the cost of gas and diesel (+5), and have a long-term plan to meet the country’s energy needs (+16).

• Trump and congressional Republicans’ budget bill canceled or stalled over 300 clean energy projects and supercharged virtually unregulated data center expansion — causing utility bills to rise by as much as 18% nationally since Trump took office.
  • In Ohio, Trump and Republicans’ policies raised costs for the average Ohio household by $2,175 through the first half of 2026. 
  • In Michigan, household electricity costs have increased by 24% since Trump took office. 
  • In Maine, where about half of households use heating oil to keep warm, Trump’s war of choice in Iran has pushed prices up 82% from a year ago, to $6.05 a gallon. Maine’s Democratic candidate for Senate, Troy Jackson, is closing his campaign by running ads addressing voters’ top concern of surging energy and heating oil costs.
  • And in Pennsylvania, at least 16 utilities enacted or proposed rate hikes totaling $3.6 billion, affecting more than 5.9 million electricity customers and 2.8 million gas customers.
• Trump and Republicans’ failed policies and war with Iran are driving pain at the pump: Diesel has topped $6 a gallon — an all-time high — and gas has been above $4 for longer this year than ever before.
• Higher gas prices caused by the war in Iran, utility bills, and tariffshave cost the average family an extra $2,000 — and counting.
• Trump has made as much as $21 million this year alone through investments in oil and gas companies.
• Nearly 2 in 3 Americans say President Donald Trump is using the presidency to enrich himself.
• Clean energy is trusted by voters across the country to lower costs, and 70% of people support building more clean energy now.
• A majority (57%) of Americans agree that increasing the production of clean energy will make their utility bills cheaper. 
• Climate Power polling conducted by Global Strategy Group found that how data centers are powered makes a massive difference in how people feel about them coming to their communities. While voters oppose a local data center with no specified power source by 33 points, a majority support one being built with clean energy instead of fossil fuels (50% support/34% oppose; net +16). 
• Republicans gave tax breaks to Big Tech companies in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, helping supercharge their massive data center expansion. 
• The House GOP passed their SPEED Act to fast-track data centers past environmental review and community objections.