Business · Fortune Technology
'Every time you see that power bill, you’re just sick': Meet a West Virginian whose $900 electric charge is more than her fixed income
Compiled by KHAO Editorial — aggregated from 1 outlet. See llms.txt for citation guidance.
◌ Single Source
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
- In West Virginia, all 55 counties voted for Trump in 2024
- Patrick Morrisey proudly announced plans to build a data center on nearly 550 acres in Berkeley County
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.