Electric Bills Could Be 2026 Election Shocker

 

Read Online  |  May 21, 2026  |  E-Paper  | 🎧 Listen

“Be silent, if you choose; but when it is necessary, speak—and speak in such a way that people will remember it.”

— Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

Ivan Pentchoukov
National Editor

Good morning. It’s Thursday. Here are today’s top stories:

• With electricity costs spiking for many of the nation’s 133 million households, this local issue could determine whether Republicans retain control of Congress or Democrats seize one or both chambers in November’s midterm elections.
• Former Cuban leader Raúl Castro has been indicted on murder charges in the United States, court records unsealed on May 20 show. The move reflects intensifying U.S. pressure on the communist regime as the island grapples with severe economic turmoil.
• Elon Musk is taking SpaceX public, filing paperwork for an initial public offering that would put one of the world’s most valuable private companies on the stock market.
• President Donald Trump said he would have a direct conversation with Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te as he makes a decision on approving a weapons sale to Taiwan. Trump will be the first U.S. president to speak directly with a Taiwanese leader since 1979, when Washington switched diplomatic recognition from Taipei to Beijing.
• 🍵 Health: What years in high heels do to women’s bodies.

Sen. Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.) speaks to reporters after a roundtable on rising energy costs in Washington on March 17, 2026. Heinrich called the administration’s cancellation of renewable energy allocations “political revenge or intimidation” and said communities, workers, and businesses are counting on those investments to lower energy costs. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)

Electric Bills Could Be 2026 Election Shocker

If all politics is local, as former House Speaker Tip O’Neill said in tying politicians’ fortunes to constituents’ pocketbooks, then a voter’s electricity bill is about as local as an issue can get, landing on kitchen tables every month.

With electricity costs spiking for many of the nation’s 133 million households, this local issue could determine whether Republicans retain control of Congress or Democrats seize one or both chambers in November’s midterm elections.

According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, average residential electricity rates increased nationwide nearly 13 percent from April 2020 to April 2025. Since President Donald Trump returned to office in January 2025, they’ve increased 6 percent. 

Electricity prices are expected to increase, on average nationwide, by another 6 percent in 2026, the administration projects, and as much as 40 percent by 2030, warns economic development finance firm ICF.

The reason is simple: supply and demand. The North American Electric Reliability Corp. projected in its 2026 long-term reliability assessment report that electricity demand will increase in the coming decade by 70 percent more than what was estimated in 2024. Many analyses find that overall demand will increase 25 percent by 2030.

The surge is driven by the development of power-hungry data centers, artificial intelligence computing, advanced manufacturing, and “the electrification of everything,” with the average home featuring up to 21 digital devices—all eating electricity all the time. 

The solution is also simple: The nation’s 2,896 utility companies must increase the electricity their power plants produce with the most abundant, least expensive energy sources. Meanwhile, the nation’s seven major grid operators must add up to 7,500 miles a year to their 240,000-mile network of high-voltage transmission lines while also upgrading up to 100,000 miles of those live wires, through 2035.

But determining what solutions work best and what long-term investments to make is a complex $1 trillion challenge mired in partisan politics and buried in century-old federal, state, and local regulations. (More)

Townhouse for sale in Elkridge, Md., on Sept. 27, 2024. (Madalina Vasiliu/The Epoch Times)

POLITICS

• A key housing affordability bill that includes restrictions on large institutional investors purchasing single-family homes passed the House of Representatives.
• The South Carolina House passed a new U.S. congressional map on May 20 that could eliminate the only Democratic seat in the state. The legislation, which would likely push out long-serving Democrat Rep. James Clyburn, moves to the GOP-majority state Senate.
• A federal judge ordered Trump administration officials to comply with a federal law requiring the preservation of presidential records.

LATEST NEWS

• The surgeon general’s office on May 20 warned Americans that many children are spending excessive time on screens, and that screen time has been associated with problems such as difficulty paying attention.
• A Bloomberg gauge of long-term sovereign debt yields has climbed to its highest level since the global financial crisis.

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U.S. Marines with the 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit, deployed in the U.S. Central Command area of operations, board a helicopter on April 14, 2026. (U.S. Marine Corps photo)

WORLD

• U.S. Marines boarded an Iranian oil tanker on Wednesday due to concerns the vessel was attempting to violate a U.S. blockade of Iran’s ports.
• Moscow’s allegation that Baltic countries are opening their airspace for Ukrainian drones to attack Russia was branded “ridiculous” by NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte.
• A new Ebola outbreak spreading in central Africa has killed 136 people, prompting officials around the world to take precautions to try to avoid the disease from entering their countries. Here’s what to know about the outbreak.

 

OPINION

• Japan’s Strategic Awakening—by Tamuz Itai (Read)
• Time to End the Iranian Regime’s Ceasefire Game—by Carl Schuster(Read)
• When All Opinions Seem Equal—by Patrick Keeney (Read)
• Car Brands Motor Oil Warnings Are About More Than Motor Oil—by Mollie Engelhart (Read)
• Beijing Alters Its Education Emphasis—by Milton Ezrati (Read)
• The End May Be Nigh for Automakers’ Monopoly on Car Repair Data—by E.J. Antoni (Read)

A path among the trees, mostly conifers, in a forest on May 20, 2026, near Celle, Germany. (Sean Gallup/Getty Images)

📸 Day in Photos: Montenegro Marks Independence, Raúl Castro Indicted, and Academy Commencement Ceremony (Look)

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MUSIC

Javier Camarena as the Duke of Mantua in “Rigoletto.” (Todd Rosenberg)

Tune in Today: Giuseppe Verdi’s Unforgettable ‘La donna è mobile’ 

What makes a great tune? For opera composers throughout history, this question often meant the difference between a forgotten work and an instant sensation. Operagoers often went to the theater as much to hear star singers perform famous arias as to experience the opera itself. When a tune became popular, it was quickly imitated and heard throughout the city the next day.

When it comes to inventing unforgettable melodies, few composers were as gifted as Giuseppe Verdi. Born in Busseto, Verdi was one of the preeminent opera composers of 19th-century Italy, writing some of history’s most beloved operas, including “La traviata” and “Otello.” In the case of his controversial “Rigoletto,” one standout aria in the third act has become one of the most memorable in all of music.

While “Rigoletto” was a resounding success at its premiere, its inception was a complicated process. Based on Victor Hugo’s play “Le roi s’amuse,” the opera initially faced censorship concerns, since Hugo’s original drama had been banned in France for its portrayal of royal immorality. 

“Rigoletto” seemed likely to follow in its footsteps until the opera was saved after some timely edits to the plot. The revised libretto changed the King into a Duke, and the original jester of the story, Triboulet, was renamed as the opera’s title character “Rigoletto.”

While the drama and character psychology explored in this opera serve as the emotional core of the work, its music captured the hearts of audiences. In particular, Duke Mantua’s aria in the beginning of the third act, “La donna è mobile,” is one of the most recognizable melodies in all of opera. (More)

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Thanks for reading 🙏

Have a wonderful day!

—Ivan Pentchoukov, Madalina Hubert, and Kenzi Li.

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