Over the last half-decade, a troubling trend has emerged in Texas: Electricity costs have soared while sizzling summer temperatures have made access to reliable air conditioning a requisite to survival.
The factors fueling this phenomenon are many. Persistent inflation and extreme heat exacerbated by climate change are among the most obvious. But Texans face an added burden. The price of electricity and residential disconnections for nonpayment in the state have increased more than anywhere else in the nation.
Beginning in the spring of 2026, Public Health Watch’s team of reporters started speaking with Texans about their struggles to pay their energy bills, the sacrifices they’re making to get by and the health threats they’re facing along the way.
The result is our new series, “Powerless,” which examines how Texas’s rising energy rates are connected to policies pushed by state leaders and corporate power providers, with the aim of maximizing profits and limiting regulation. Told through the eyes of economists, energy experts and everyday Texans from across the state, this project illuminates how corporate greed and government failure have created both an affordability crisis and a public health crisis in the energy capital of America.
