One in five Americans are now cutting back on food just to pay their electric bill.
Quick Take
- A Consumer Reports survey of 2,146 U.S. adults found 68% said energy costs are straining their household finances.
- Nearly one in five lower-income Americans reported skipping meals or cutting groceries to afford heating and electricity.
- Most Americans surveyed worry that data centers and artificial intelligence will push electricity prices even higher.
- Utilities cut off power to an estimated 4.2 million households last year as living costs keep climbing.
A Survey That Puts Numbers to a Familiar Struggle
Consumer Reports surveyed 2,146 adults nationwide in November 2025 to measure how rising utility bills affect daily life. The results were stark. Sixty-eight percent said their household budget felt strained by electricity and natural gas costs. That is not a fringe complaint. It is a majority of American households saying the power bill has become a genuine financial burden, not just an annoyance.
🔴 1 in 5 Americans cut food spending to pay electricity bills, survey finds
About 20% of U.S. adults have reduced grocery purchases to afford electricity, while 25% lower heating or air conditioning to uncomfortable levels, according to a Consumer Reports survey of over 2,000… pic.twitter.com/pivjG0b5Fe
— NewsTongue (@NewsTongueX) October 21, 2026
Among lower-income households, the squeeze gets sharper. Nearly 19% said they skipped meals or trimmed grocery lists specifically to cover heating and electricity costs during colder months. That is roughly one in five families choosing between a hot meal and a hot shower. For millions, that is not a hypothetical tradeoff. It is a monthly reality that repeats every winter.
Why This Pattern Keeps Showing Up Year After Year
This is not a new phenomenon invented by one survey. Researchers studying what they call energy poverty have tracked similar numbers for years. One review found nearly three in five low-income Americans experience energy poverty, a condition where paying for power means sacrificing food or medicine. More than two in five spend over 10% of their monthly income just on energy bills.
Housing researchers at the Institute for Research on Poverty put the national pattern simply: roughly one in five households have to reduce or skip food or medicine to pay their energy bill. More than 21 million households carry overdue utility balances, and two to three million homes get disconnected from power every year. The Consumer Reports numbers fit squarely inside that long-running trend.
The Financial Spiral Behind a Shutoff Notice
Academic research backs up why this matters beyond a single bad month. A long-term study tracking households from 1999 to 2017 found that families spending too much of their income on energy faced one and a half to two times the risk of falling into or staying in poverty compared to families without that burden. High energy bills do not just strain a budget. They can trap a household in it.
The consequences show up in blunt, measurable ways. Last year, utility companies shut off power to an estimated 4.2 million American households as the cost of living climbed faster than paychecks. Families already stretched thin on rent, groceries, and gas now face a fourth bill competing for the same shrinking dollar, and electricity often loses that fight last, after the lights are already off.
A New Worry: Data Centers and AI Driving Prices Higher
Consumer Reports asked a question past surveys never needed to ask: do Americans think artificial intelligence is driving up their electric bill. Seventy-eight percent said they were at least somewhat concerned that massive data centers built to power AI systems will push energy prices even higher for everyday households. That is a new front in an old fight over who absorbs the cost of the nation’s growing power demand.
CPI: electricity up 2.6%.
Delhi fuel surcharge: 17.94%.
UP: +10% on every bill.
One smart meter: 868 units. Check meter beside it: 29.Your power bill is the inflation nobody is counting.
I dug into the data 🧵👇 https://t.co/zMDDCH9AmS
— Ajay kumar (@authorajay) October 21, 2026
Families are not just worried about today’s bill. They are worried the next one will be worse, and the one after that worse still. When nearly seven in ten Americans say energy costs already strain their finances, and most of them expect new industrial demand to drive prices higher, that is not a passing complaint. It is a warning sign for household budgets heading into another winter.
Sources:
consumerreports.org, cbsnews.com, advocacy.consumerreports.org, sciencedaily.com
