Polling by Morning Consult on behalf of The Electric Power Supply Association (EPSA) examined what Americans want from their energy supply and what concerns are at the forefront for households across the country. The survey was conducted with a sample size of 2,205 U.S. adults, across demographics, regions, and educational attainment.
Americans are going into the summer months deeply concerned about the reliability and affordability of their energy supply, but convinced that competitive power markets are the best solution to meet both demands.
Experts continue to warn that strains on the electric grid are mounting. Last month, the North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC) released its 2023 Summer Reliability Assessment forecasting serious resource shortfalls if summer temperatures spike above normal, which meteorologists widely expect.
At a time when extreme weather and the energy transition are creating new challenges for the electric grid, the poll offers vital insights into what Americans need from their energy system and expect of their policymakers.
- Reliability and affordability are Americans’ top energy priorities.
More than half of Americans across party lines say U.S. policymakers should be doing more to ensure electric grid reliability.
Morning Consult Survey for EPSA of 2,205 American adults, conducted June 23-25, 2023.
Ultimately, Americans want the lights to stay on and prices to remain low. Over 70% of adults surveyed say reliable electricity should not be sacrificed for new laws and regulations aimed at addressing climate change. And nearly two-thirds (65%) of respondents are concerned as to how government policies are threatening to retire power plants early and the negative impacts this could have on reliability.
- Two-thirds of Americans express concern about the possibility of power outages this summer.
Nearly 70% of Americans surveyed are concerned that power plants are retiring without adequate replacement, and nearly half (45%) indicate that their concern has grown since last year. Their concern reflects warnings from power providers and regulators that energy resources are disappearing from the grid even as power demand continues to grow, electrification increases, and weather trends cause surges in demand.
Americans are attuned to how seasonal demand can impact energy reliability, with a plurality of adults blaming extreme weather events as the leading causes of reliability issues (24%), with growing demand for electricity (14%), and inadequate maintenance and investment in the power grid (13%) rounding out the top three issues.
- More than one-third of adults expect transitioning to low/zero-emission energy infrastructure could increase the likelihood of power outages and consumers remain split on whether we have the technology to do so.
The survey found that roughly half of adults are concerned that the technology to reliably achieve net-zero emissions—a widely stated goal of new policies—does not yet exist. While relatively few (20%) predict significant changes, most adults across the spectrum are wary of what the transition to a low- or zero-emission energy system could mean for the United States. The split on existing technology reveals a knowledge gap when it comes to the operational needs of the grid and the resources that will exist now or in the near future that can be connected to the grid and adequately and cost-effectively replace existing generation powered by natural gas.
Morning Consult Survey for EPSA of 2,205 American adults, conducted June 23-25, 2023.
Experts including EPSA President and CEO Todd Snitchler recently testified before Congress on the considerable challenges that remain in integrating renewable resources onto the grid in the pursuit of net-zero. “As the resource mix changes, it’s not a one for one replacement. If you add 10,000 megawatts of wind or solar, you still need to have 10,000 megawatts or more of natural gas-fired resources in order to back them up when they don’t operate. And so, they work symbiotically, and they are required to work together.”
- Three-fourths of adults express concern about the potential for their electric bills to spike in the months ahead.
Inflationary pressures, constrained energy supplies, and the possibility of a hot summer have 78% of U.S. adults concerned about their electric bills for the following months. Meanwhile, a strong majority (69%) also voiced concern about the potential for the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)’s proposed new rule limiting power plant emissions to raise energy costs and increase reliability challenges. Sixty-five percent of respondents are concerned that the new rule will cause natural gas plants to close, affecting the reliability of the electric grid.
Concerns about rising electric bills and the new rule’s impact on energy costs were consistent across demographics and regions.
- Consumers express a clear preference for competitive power markets over energy monopolies.
Americans were largely in agreement that competitive solutions are the right ones for these challenges. Half of adults prefer to live in a competitive power market, while only 15% prefer an energy monopoly. When those who favor competitive power markets were asked to indicate why they prefer to live in this market structure, 52% cited the expectation of lower prices as the dominant factor in their decision.
Morning Consult Survey for EPSA of 2,205 American adults, conducted June 23-25, 2023.
Overall, the results offer a clear playbook for policymakers: make reliable, cost-effective electricity a priority. Pursuing emissions reductions and the energy transition without taking reliability into account is not sufficient to preserve the access to reliable and affordable energy that Americans expect. As concerns about outages and price spikes continue to mount for households across the country, policymakers must act.
EPSA and its members are dedicated to supporting the expansion of cost-effective clean energy, while also maintaining reliability. But ambitious policies should not outpace on-the-ground realities. Consumer preferences are clear: Americans want reliable, affordable power and they want competitive markets to deliver it.
