Texas’ residential electricity prices have increased by more than 50% in the past 15 years, and voters have noticed. In Texas 2036’s 10th annual Texas Voter Poll, 82% said they’re more likely to back a candidate who prioritizes lowering their electricity bill. But when forced to name the most important electricity issue, voters didn’t choose price, they chose reliability.
Texas residents want candidates who prioritize affordable electricity
Affordability is in the zeitgeist in 2026, with 82% of voters saying they’re more likely to back a candidate who prioritizes lowering residential electricity bills. That ranked fourth among all statewide issues in the poll, just behind improving student outcomes in reading and math, improving student college and career readiness and reducing healthcare prices.
Interestingly, residential electricity affordability ranked ahead of reducing homeowner’s insurance costs (79%) and reducing property taxes (77%).
It’s not surprising that affordability is on the mind of voters. Texas residents have faced real increases in average electricity costs over the past 15 years. Average residential electricity prices grew 53.3% between 2011 and 2026, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA), not adjusted for inflation. The chart below illustrates this increase. EIA data also indicates that Texas residents pay some of the highest electricity bills in the nation. Important caveat: it’s not that Texas has the most expensive electricity, but our usage is high because of our typically hot weather patterns.
Source: EIA – Electric Power Annual, Average Price of Electricity to Ultimate Customers by End-Use Sector; Electric Power Monthly – Table 5.6.A
When forced to choose, voters want reliability first
While there is a clear emphasis on affordability, when voters were asked to pick a single priority for policymakers to focus on with electric grid reforms, reliability won out: 53% of voters named improving grid reliability as the most important electricity issue, followed by 33% who want lower prices. Just 8% of voters favored reducing emissions over reliability and affordability. The reliability message resonated even higher than the statewide average with voters in the Houston region, with 60.2% saying reliability was the most important electricity issue. The visual below illustrates this, where reliability took 81% of voters’ choice as the most important and next most important electricity issue.
The key electricity takeaway from the 2026 Texas Voter Poll
The key takeaway for candidates and policymakers: Texans first want a grid that’s reliable, then affordable. And in 2026, Texas voters are much less concerned about reducing emissions if given the choice to prioritize both reliability and affordability.
The 10th Texas Voter Poll was conducted Aug. 22–26, 2026, by Baselice & Associates for Texas 2036, consisting of 1,369 completed interviews with registered Texas voters. Results weighted to represent registered Texas voters statewide with an effective sample size after weighting of 1,001. Margin of sampling error is ±3.1 percentage points.
