McKibben predicts rising electricity bills will define 2026 elections for GOP

Climate activist Bill McKibben predicted this week that rising U.S. electricity prices will become the defining pocketbook issue of the 2026 midterm elections, drawing a direct comparison to the food inflation that cost Democrats in 2024. McKibben spoke in Ripton, Vermont, shortly after installing his fourth solar panel system on his home, as federal clean energy tax credits expired and the Trump administration continued to restrict offshore wind development. National average electricity costs rose from 15.94 cents per kilowatt-hour when President Donald Trump took office in January 2025 to 17.98 cents in October — a 12.8% increase in 10 months that exceeded the rate of increase over the prior two years combined, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.

The rate surge has injected energy costs into the 2026 political debate, with Senate and House Democrats this week publicly blaming Trump’s opposition to renewable energy for rising household bills, while the White House said affordable electricity remains a top administration priority.

RIPTON, Vt. — “I think you’re starting to see that have a big political impact in the U.S. right now,” Bill McKibben told the Associated Press this week from his Vermont home. “My prediction would be that electric prices are going to be to the 2026 election what egg prices were to the 2024 election.”

McKibben, an author and founder of multiple environmental and activist groups, made the remarks after installing his fourth solar panel system on his home in Vermont’s Green Mountains. He said President Donald Trump’s opposition to solar and other renewable energy sources would continue to drive up household electricity bills and generate political backlash.

Electricity prices rose faster in 10 months than in the prior two years

National average electricity costs climbed from 15.94 cents per kilowatt-hour when Trump took office in January 2025 to 18.07 cents in September before easing to 17.98 cents in October, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. That 12.8% rise in 10 months exceeded the rate of increase over the prior two years combined.

At 900 kilowatt-hours per month — a typical household load — the October rate translates to an average monthly bill roughly $18 higher than in January 2025, the AP reported.

Residents of Maryland, New Jersey, and Maine have seen electricity prices rise at three times the national average since October 2024, according to the EIA data.

The Trump administration and a bipartisan group of governors this week pressed the operator of the nation’s largest electric grid to accelerate steps to increase power supplies. “Ensuring the American people have reliable and affordable electricity is one of President Trump’s top priorities,” White House spokesperson Taylor Rogers said.

Democrats assign blame; wind projects remain in flux

Senate and House Democrats this week publicly attributed the rate increases to the administration’s energy posture.

“From his first day in office, he’s made it his mission to limit American’s access to cheap energy, all in the name of increasing profits for his friends in the fossil fuel industry. As a result, energy bills across the country have skyrocketed,” Rep. Sean Casten, an Illinois Democrat, said at a Wednesday news conference.

Sen. Brian Schatz, a Democrat from Hawaii, said on the Senate floor the same day: “Donald Trump is the first president to intentionally raise the price of something that we all need.”

The Trump administration froze five large offshore wind projects last month. Federal judges this week allowed three of those projects to resume construction. Federal clean energy tax credits — including incentives for home solar installation — expired on December 31.

Global renewable prices fall as U.S. moves in reverse

The United Nations found that global wind and solar power prices have fallen below the cost of fossil fuels. China leads the world in renewable energy technology, and a Chinese electric vehicle company surpassed Tesla in annual sales, the AP reported.

“We can’t economically compete in a world where China gets a lot of cheap energy and we have to pay for really expensive energy,” McKibben told the AP.

McKibben said the United States’ residential solar installation costs are far above those in peer economies. “Americans spend three or four times as much money as Australians or Europeans to put solar panels on the roof,” he said. “We have an absurdly overcomplicated permitting system that’s unlike anything else on the rest of the planet.”

McKibben said Australians can receive three hours of free electricity daily through a government program because of high solar density — a model he called broadly appealing to American consumers regardless of political affiliation. He has routed excess electricity from his panels to the Vermont grid for years and said his new plug-in panel system, made by California-based Bright Saver, was operational within 10 minutes of installation.