New Report: Utilities pass on the costs of extreme weather to customers, then double down on the fossil fuels driving the climate crisis
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
October 21, 2026
CONTACT: Gabrielle Levy, glevy@cacampaign.org
New Report: Utilities pass on the costs of extreme weather to customers, then double down on the fossil fuels driving the climate crisis
Clean energy is key to a reliable, resilient grid – but utilities are doubling down on dirty, polluting fossil fuels
WASHINGTON–On Wednesday, October 21, climate and economic policy experts came together to discuss how extreme weather fueled by the climate crisis is driving up the cost of electricity, and how utilities pass those costs along to their customers while failing to embrace cleaner, more affordable, and more reliable forms of energy.
A new analysis released this week by CAC highlights that at least 23 utilities are currently charging their customers more on their energy bills, either to recoup costs from specific extreme weather damage or to make improvements to harden the grid against future extreme weather, and at the same time, many of those utilities continue to rely on the very thing behind the extreme weather causing damage and driving up costs – fossil fuels – when they should be investing in affordable, reliable clean energy.
"Working class Americans are being crushed by the skyrocketing price of electricity," said Trevor Higgins, Senior Vice President, Energy and Environment, at the Center for American Progress. "In order to effectively address this affordability crisis, decisionmakers must address the multiple factors driving up costs, including climate change and extreme weather disasters, and provide immediate relief for working class Americans without deepening our dependence upon the same expensive fossil fuels driving the climate crisis.”
Increasingly extreme storms and wildfires are putting serious strain on an already aging U.S. electric grid. While it is essential for the grid to be updated to better withstand increasingly severe weather and handle growing energy demand, consumers should not have to shoulder those costs. The federal government should be funding and incentivizing the buildout of clean energy and upgrades to grid infrastructure. Utilities and fossil fuel companies, which are seeing record profits, should pay their fair share and be held accountable for causing climate change and extreme weather damages.
"We have known for decades that greenhouse gas pollution from fossil fuel power plants worsens the impacts of climate change and threatens our health, and yet Sierra Club’s Dirty Truth Report shows utility companies are rushing to toxic, polluting fossil fuels more than ever before,” said Emma Pabst, Beyond Coal campaign manager at the Sierra Club and an author of the Dirty Truth report. “Because of utilities’ hypocrisy, everyday Americans are being forced to pay for more expensive electricity, breathe dirtier air, and face more climate disasters. We cannot afford to wait while these companies drag their feet. Utility companies across the country must transition away from deadly and dirty fossil fuels to affordable and clean energy now.”
CAC’s report outlines the serious financial strain Americans are under, with climate change contributing to communities’ financial struggles in nearly every facet of everyday life: higher grocery costs, worsening health conditions, higher insurance premiums and more. It also highlights the ways the Trump administration has made this affordability crisis worse: By some calculations, the policies implemented under President Trump since 2025 will result in American households paying $920 billion more for energy through 2040 – about $6,500 for the average household.
“The Trump administration’s rollbacks of climate protections and embrace of dirty, polluting energy sources are fueling the deadly extreme weather that’s hitting communities all over the country, and compounding the affordability crisis that’s making it challenging for Americans to provide for their families,” said Margie Alt, Director of the Climate Action Campaign. “Trump has consistently blocked and attacked clean energy, bailed out fossil fuel corporations, and implemented rollbacks of pollution standards – all while helping his friends in the fossil fuel industry get richer. Americans need relief from high energy bills – not increasingly skyrocketing costs. We need utilities to cut the pollution that’s causing extreme weather and not let them continue to invest in dirty fossil fuels.”
Watch the entire briefing here.
