New polling from Groundwork Collaborative and Data for Progress reveals Americans reject the Trump Administration’s plan to rely on voluntary commitments from corporate actors to lower household bills. While nearly 90% of Americans say the war on Iran will raise prices on essential items, 60% of voters also view energy demand generated by large commercial energy users as a key driver of rising electricity costs. This polling shows that Americans reject reliance on corporations to do the right thing: 60% of voters prefer public sector leadership on energy, saying the public sector should run both grid modernization (60%) and the utilities themselves (58%), as opposed to the private sector.

To support grid reliability and affordability communications in the Iran war or broader geopolitical context, the Reliable Grid Project (RGP) offers messaging research, resources, and guidance.

Electricity bills have joined groceries, housing, and health care as a top tier issue in the affordability crisis. Voters broadly support clean energy and view it as one of the few solutions to help lower energy costs.

"The Trump administration has been working hard to effectively repeal the Inflation Reduction Act and destroy the Biden administration’s historic investments in clean energy, infrastructure, and manufacturing. After initially attempting to freeze the funding from Joe Biden’s 2021 Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, President Donald Trump is now taking credit for the projects it funded, while also pushing a top-down approach to artificial intelligence infrastructure. New Data for Progress polling assesses how voters view the government’s role in shaping the U.S. economy and growing key industries, as well as how they would feel about new developments in their local community. The survey finds broad public support for the government to take a more active role in supporting new economic development. A strong majority of voters (71%) believe the federal government should take a more active role in shaping the U.S. economy, and 82% of voters view investment in new technologies or industries as a priority for the federal government. While voters generally express high support for new industrial development, only 51% say they would be enthusiastic about a new construction project in their community."

This survey of nonprofit professionals in the social and educational sectors is a partnership of Stanford University and Project Evident.

This case study recounts and analyzes the 2023 ballot initiative campaign for Maine to take ownership of the two investor-owned utilities in the state and create a new publicly-owned utility called Pine Tree Power. Along the way, the Our Power campaign integrated research throughout their campaign to evaluate their power-building strategy. While the referendum lost at the ballot, Our Power draw out a number of insights from their campaign for energy democracy, including:

15 % think utilities bills are the "most unfair" part of their budget. 41% think climate change and environmental issues are "some of the most urgent crises facing out country a should be addressed now", while only 16% think "environmental concerns have been exaggerated and should not be a priority".

A poll of voters in August exploring Americans’ concerns about the cost of energy, their energy priorities, and their views on different energy types, growing energy demand, and the energy provisions in the OBBBA.

A new poll from Data for Progress explores voter attitudes toward nuclear and geothermal, particularly in the context of local deployment and decarbonization.

Research with voters across the country points to the best path forward to hold power companies accountable. Messaging was extensively tested via qualitative and survey research, which identifies a clear path forward that focuses on corporate greed, monopolization, and corruption.