Voters in 9 states will pick the people overseeing their power bills

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The 2026 election season is officially upon us, and with electricity prices on the rise, energy affordability is sure to factor into thousands of campaigns currently underway across the country.

While state legislators, governors, and members of Congress make decisions that influence power costs, it’s actually state public utility commissions that have the authority to oversee electricity rate hikes, power plant construction, and other factors that determine the size of your electricity bill. In most of the country, utility commissioners are appointed by governors or state legislatures, but in 10 states, voters elect the officials directly — and in nine of those states, commissioner seats are up for election this year.

As it stands, Republicans hold the vast majority of elected seats on state public utility boards, also called public service commissions, among other names. The commissions in Alabama, Arizona, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, Oklahoma, and South Dakota are entirely Republican.

That was also true for the Georgia Public Service Commission until last fall. Running on promises to rein in rising prices from major utility Georgia Power, including by promoting clean energy development, Democrats Peter Hubbard and Alicia Johnson sailed to upset victories in their statewide elections. Hubbard is already up for reelection this fall, and a Republican-held seat is up for grabs as well, in races that could serve as a referendum on the PSC’s approval of Georgia Power’s massive, bill-raising gas plant buildout late last year, just before the newly elected Democrats took office.

In Alabama, two of the state’s three Public Service Commission seats are on the ballot this year, but even if Democrats win them both, there’s a good chance they won’t end up with a majority. That’s because Alabama recently enacted a law that will add four more members to the PSC, all appointed by the governor, who is currently a Republican.

Those members may eventually be replaced in elections over the next four years, but the law also gives the governor another kind of leverage: the ability to appoint a new energy secretary who will set the utility commission’s agenda. Just this week, Sheila McNeil, the Democratic candidate in one of the two Alabama PSC races, sued the state in an attempt to roll back the commission’s expansion.

In Arizona, two of the five seats on the state’s utility commission, known as the Corporation Commission, are on the ballot this year. Two Democratic candidates are running on a joint platform of reining in utility rate hikes and expanding renewable energy goals, hoping for more success than the Democrats who lost their races for commission seats in 2022 and 2024.

Other states that will elect utility commissioners this year are Louisiana, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, Oklahoma, and South Dakota. 

More big energy stories

New Jersey and Pennsylvania tackle data centers

The governors of New Jersey and Pennsylvania both unveiled plans this week aimed at making sure data centers don’t run up residential electricity costs.

In Pennsylvania, Democratic Gov. Josh Shapiro’s plan would encourage data center developers to build or buy their own power supply, with a third of it coming from carbon-free sources by 2035, and take other measures to reduce impacts to the environment and electric grid. In exchange for following these voluntary guidelines, data centers could access tax incentives and a streamlined permitting process.

New Jersey Gov. Mikie Sherrill, also a Democrat, meanwhile proposed legislation that would make data centers pay for the upgrades they’d need to connect to the electric grid, and would mandate reporting of their energy and water use.

The proposals come as New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and pretty much every other state within PJM Interconnection’s grid management territory continue to fight the grid operator over its inability to quickly get new power generation online — especially as more and more power-hungry data centers are built.

How to buy a used EV

Soaring gasoline prices have spiked interest in used EVs — which now cost about as much as used gas cars, so there’s never been a better time to ditch your combustion engine.

Unsure where to start? Canary Media’s Alison F. Takemura put together a guide to help you find the perfect EV. Start by thinking about how much mileage range you’ll actually need. Check to see if there are EV discounts or rebates available in your area. And think about whether you’ll want to install a higher-speed Level 2 charger at home, or whether slow or on-the-go charging will suffice.

Alison also has suggestions for where to shop for your dream EV. One driver she talked to found a used Nissan Leaf on Facebook. And once you’ve found a car you like, be sure to ask for a battery health report to see how far your potential new ride will actually go.

Clean energy news to know this week

Cool for the summer: Experts say the U.S. grid looks ready to handle an abnormally hot summer ahead, largely thanks to a recent surge of new solar and energy storage resources. (Canary Media)

Climate clawback: New York passes a budget bill that guts its once-ambitious climate law, the result of a monthslong push by Democratic Gov. Kathy Hochul. (Canary Media)

More payouts ahead: Offshore wind experts predict more companies will try to secure Trump administration payouts to abandon their projects, especially firms that also have oil and gas developments they could shift their investments to. (E&E News)

Stifling wind’s potential: The Trump administration’s effective halt to onshore wind farms puts $50 billion in investments and 150,000 jobs at risk, the American Clean Power Association estimates. (Bloomberg)

Keep it competitive: State lawmakers urge federal energy regulators to reject utilities’ requests to build transmission lines without having to bid on the work, arguing that a no-bid approach would stifle competition and raise prices. (E&E News)