White House · Donald Trump · U.S. · Fortune Technology
Every month, Rebecca Michalski takes a deep breath before opening her electric bill
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Every month, Rebecca Michalski takes a deep breath before opening her electric bill.
Key facts
- The state’s average household electricity rate per kilowatt-hour has surged 73%, natural gas has increased 51% per 1,000 cubic feet and water has risen 45% per 1,000 gallons from 2015 to 2025
- Instead, electricity increased 4.8% in February nationwide and piped natural gas prices rose 10.9%, both compared with a year earlier, according to the Labor Department’s Consumer Price Index
- Even though monthly bills remain higher in other states, salaries in West Virginia have simply not kept pace, it’s the only place in the country where the median inflation-adjusted household income
- In West Virginia, all 55 counties voted for Trump in 2024
Summary
She turns the lights off during the day and only burns one lamp with an energy-efficient bulb in the living room at night, but she keeps falling further behind on payments. “Every time you see that power bill, you’re sick,” Michalski said, rifling through a stack of statements totaling thousands of dollars. She’s taken to social media, demanding answers alongside thousands of other West Virginians who have been posting screenshots of their monthly charges. President Donald Trump, as part of his campaign pitch to “make America affordable again,” promised to cut Americans’ electricity bills by half during his first year to 18 months in the White House.