Here Come the Energy Abundance Candidates 

By Dan Crawford

The price of electricity is going up. By some measures, twice as fast as overall inflation. While growing demand from data centers has received most of the attention, as Heatmap’s Robinson Meyer points out, everything from natural disasters to the cost of the grid itself is contributing to skyrocketing rates. And the problem is only going to get worse, between the rollback of tax credits for clean energy and the Trump administration’s attacks on offshore wind projects and other restrictions on renewable development.

So it’s no surprise that energy prices are shaping up to be a major factor in the coming elections. Several outside groups have already started running ads criticizing members of Congress who voted for the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act” (OBBBA)—and many candidates are seizing the opportunity, making energy abundance an important plank in their platforms.

Energy Abundance Takes Center Stage

In Virginia, gubernatorial candidate Abigail Spanberger has embraced renewables as a way of taking some of the pressure off ratepayers as the number of data centers in the state increases dramatically. Meanwhile, New Jersey’s Mikie Sherrill has promised to reform grid operator PJMand invest more in renewable energy. And in Nebraska, a renewable energy advocate is running on a platform that includes undoing the OBBBA’s cuts to domestic energy production.

The latest entry on this list is Maine’s Dan Kleban, who just announced his run for Senate. (Full disclosure, Echo worked on the campaign’s launch.) The founder of Maine Beer Company, Kleban set out to prove that business could be a force for good—donating 1% of the company’s sales to environmental causes, emphasizing sustainability at the brewery, and advocating for clean energy development in Maine.

Making the Costs Argument for Clean Energy

What ties these candidates together is that they are making an economic argument for renewable energy. Kleban is quick to point out that his business depends on clean water, and that putting solar panels on the roof of the brewery saves them money in addition to helping the planet.

Environmental activists and clean energy advocates have long tried to make an economic case for renewable energy, but it was usually centered on jobs. Now, with energy prices top of mind of millions of Americans—and with renewables, especially solar, being among the cheapest ways to meet energy demand—costs may prove to be the winning message that advocates have been looking for.

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