Electricity bills force 1 in 5 to cut back on food, survey finds

About one in five Americans say they have had to cut back on groceries to afford their electricity bills, while roughly a quarter of consumers are turning down their heating or air conditioning to uncomfortable levels to lower their energy costs, according to a new survey from Consumer Reports. 

About 80% of people who have lived in the same home for at least three years say their electricity bills have increased over that time, according to a national survey of more than 2,000 adults by the nonprofit advocacy group. The largest share, 28%, said their bills had surged between 20% and 49% over that period. 

Electricity prices across major U.S. cities have jumped 14% over the last three years, according to federal data.

Rising utility costs are worsening the affordability crunch facing millions of American families, who are facing sharply higher gasoline and diesel prices amid higher oil costs due to the war in Iran. The survey found that consumers are cutting back where they can, such as switching to less expensive foods or spending less on discretionary items, to cope with rising electricity bills.

"We're hearing a lot of folks who don't know what they can possibly do to afford rising [electricity] rates," Sara Enright, senior director of safety and energy at Consumer Reports, told CBS News. "Vulnerable populations like students and retirees who live on a fixed income don't have a lot of flex in their budgets, and so when they get a surprise bill in the heat of the summer, it can be frightening."

Consumers often prioritize paying their utility bills because they need to keep their lights on and their refrigerators running, she added. 

"People are cutting back on food" to pay their utility bills, Enright said. "They're definitely cutting back on non-essentials like vacations and eating out."

Other polls show that energy costs are weighing on voters ahead of next month's midterm elections, along with other cost-of-living issues. The cost of food is the top concern for voters in battleground states, followed by gas prices and utility bills, according to an October survey from Climate Power, a clean energy advocacy group.

"Increasingly distrustful"

Consumer Reports found that Americans blame their higher electric bills on utility companies seeking to maximize profits and on the rapid buildout of data centers. Electricity demand is forecast to increase 16% by 2029, mainly due to the proliferation of data centers across the U.S., according to energy management company Schneider Electric.

The price of natural gas, ongoing electrification of buildings and vehicles, and other factors are also contributing to rising power costs. Meanwhile, a majority of respondents said they don't believe state utility regulators are protecting their interests, Consumer Reports found. 

"The public is becoming increasingly distrustful that government is looking out for them, and this is true across party lines," Enright told CBS News. "Everyday people, as the cost of living is rising, are concerned that their needs and interests are not being centered by the politicians and legislators that are supposed to represent them."

As electricity prices spike, more middle-income households are applying for government energy assistance despite their incomes being too high to qualify, Mark Wolfe, executive director of the National Energy Assistance Directors Association, told CBS News. The federal Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program is limited to people who earn less than 60% of their state's median income. 

"People are dealing with high food bills, high gasoline bills, and they've just gone through high summer cooling bills," he said. "If you're living on a tight budget, from paycheck to paycheck, then the cost of driving goes up by $100, $150 a month, that might be the whole surplus in your budget."

Consumers "feel the government's not standing behind them, and they can't control these prices," Wolfe added. 

Help decoding your energy bill

Consumer Reports said it's launching a new initiative called Power Smarter to help households reduce their energy costs. The effort includes a service called the CR Bill Decoder, where consumers can submit their electric bills. Consumer Reports, which will anonymize the bill data, will use the information to analyze trends and map prices across the U.S.

Bill Decoder "is intended to be a simple first step for anybody who wants to learn more about their energy bill and how they can take more power over their bill," Enright said. "We anonymize it and aggregate the data that we collect from it, and we'll be doing national-level and state-level evaluations of what's driving energy costs, and using that information to advocate for the American consumer to keep energy costs affordable."