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The energy research company Energy Innovation recently completed an analysis, Associated Press coverage of which was published in last weekend's edition of the Parkersburg News and Sentinel, that found that "households will pay an average of $6,500 more for energy, cumulatively, through 2040" because of policies and actions of the Trump regime and congressional Republicans.
The analysis "focused on the sweeping package of tax breaks that slashed funding for clean energy tax credits, known as the One Big Beautiful Bill, Trump signed; environmental rollbacks, including clean air and power plant rules and the revocation of a scientific finding that underpinned the U.S. fight against climate change; the loosening of fuel economy standards and blocking of California's novel rule banning the sale of new gas-powered cars by 2035; and federal actions to stop wind, solar and hydrogen projects."
The analysis found that "these changes will result in annual household energy costs rising in every state in the contiguous U.S., plus job losses in 47 of 48 states and losses to the gross domestic product in 46 states." The analysis also projects "37,000 additional premature deaths from air pollution, $72 billion in additional healthcare costs and more than 9 billion tons of additional carbon pollution because of the environmental rollbacks."
West Virginia's entire congressional delegation, especially Sen. Shelley Moore Capito, were huge supporters of the One Big Beautiful Bill and of the environmental rollbacks the analysis covered. Meanwhile, West Virginians have been and continue to be hit particularly hard by rising costs of energy, due in large part to our state's highest-in-the-country reliance on coal-fired grid power.
To quote from reporting by Charleston Gazette-Mail Reporter Mike Tony, "Citing an analysis of U.S. Energy Information Administration data, the U.S. Joint Economic Committee--Minority in November projected that West Virginia's average 2025 household electricity expenses would reach $1,960, more than any bordering state except Maryland despite West Virginia having easily the lowest per capita personal income among those neighbors in 2024, per a Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis analysis."
Tony continues, "The West Virginia Housing Development Fund last year published a state housing needs assessment that found there are more than 266,000 energy-burdened households in the state (37% of all households), meaning they pay more than 6% of their household income on electricity and other fuel expenses. One in every five burdened households were low-income and had among the top quarter of highest energy costs in the state, the report found..."
Fortunately, the West Virginia Office of Energy is finally implementing two home energy efficiency programs--the Home Owner Managing Energy Savings (HOMES) program and the Home Efficiency Appliance Rebate (HEAR) program--that are designed to help qualifying households offset the cost of whole-home energy improvements (HOMES) and support qualifying high-efficiency appliances, equipment and related home improvements (HEAR). These programs were funded with $88.2 million for West Virginia under the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) of 2022, energy legislation signed by President Biden that received no Republican support. Over four years after the passage of the IRA, we're finally seeing these programs come into being. I plan to try qualifying for one of the programs to see if I can get a little help replacing my gas furnace with a far more efficient model. You can see if you qualify at bit.ly/WVHomeEnergyRebates.
I wish there were more good news but, unfortunately, energy ratepayers are also faced with the buildout of data centers. The Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory estimates that by 2030, data centers will use 11.8% of U.S. electricity, as much as the state of Texas, which is the U.S.'s most power-hungry state. A recent article in Forbes on the data center construction boom stated, "Over the next four years, they could eat up another 457 terawatt-hours of electricity--enough to power California for nearly two years." A recent Gallup poll found that 70% of Americans opposed building AI data centers in their communities.
You wouldn't know about that 70% opposition nationwide listening to Gov. Patrick Morrisey or most of the Republicans in the supermajority at the WV State Legislature. House Bill 2014 of 2025 made abundantly clear that they don't particularly care how people feel about data centers in their communities. Friends of mine in Mason County have already suffered immensely from property damage and noise and loss of beloved woodlands from the early days of the building of a data center campus practically on top of them.
We don't need more data centers; we need affordable, reliable, cleaner renewable energy. I have a 14.2 KW, 34-panel solar array on my home via a solar leasing program through the solar installation company Solar Holler. In just the last two weeks, my array has generated 576.3 kWh, while we have used 349.4 kWh, which has resulted in our exporting 220.3 kWh to the grid for credits. Even at the height of summer with air conditioning going almost around the clock, our array met 73% of our power needs.
I encourage you to check out Solar Holler and the numerous other installation companies working. Solar Holler did a fantastic job installing my array and they use only IBEW union labor and operate out of Huntington, WV, but there are other great companies getting in on leasing programs or offering other great financing options as well. Everyone should be able to maximize their home's energy efficiency and take advantage of solar and other renewables. That starts with public policy.
We at Mid-Ohio Valley Climate Action, as our great yard signs say (we still have plenty of yard signs available), want you to be a climate voter, but we also want you to vote for lower utility bills and greater energy affordability across the board. Early voting starts Oct. 21 in WV and Election Day is Nov. 3
Eric Engle is board president of Mid-Ohio Valley Climate Action.