According to a recent Compass Poll by Embold Research, U.S. voters overwhelmingly view reliable and affordable energy as important priorities, and large majorities have serious concerns about energy prices and the country’s ability to keep the lights on. The survey of 2,160 registered voters nationwide was fielded August 26 – 29, 2025 and explored Americans’ concerns about the cost of energy, their energy priorities, and their views on different energy types, growing energy demand, and the energy provisions in the OBBBA (toplines, crosstabs).
This post is the second in a weekly series on energy, which we will post throughout the month of September.
Embold Research asked voters about the importance of four major energy priorities, and large majorities – between 70 and 88% – view each of these priorities as critically or very important. “Ensuring reliable electricity that doesn’t go out” took the top spot, with a 53% majority saying it is critically important and 36% rating it as very important. Just over half – 51% – also view the related goal of modernizing America’s energy infrastructure and electrical grid as critically important, and a further 31% see this as very important. For more than 8 in 10 voters – 81% – keeping energy costs as low as possible is another critically (48%) or very (34%) important priority. Finally, while achieving energy independence from other countries is desirable for most, fewer voters see it as critically (45%) or very important (25%).
Most voters also expressed serious reservations about the energy system’s ability to deliver on these priorities. When asked how concerned they are about the cost of energy today, 70% reported that they are extremely or very concerned. This number was even higher – 90% – among the 3 in 10 voters who reported that their household energy bills have increased a lot over the last year.
A very similar share of voters – 68% – are extremely or very concerned about the reliability of the U.S. electrical grid. When asked about the reliability of power in their own local area, this share fell to half, suggesting that at least some voters have greater confidence in the state of energy infrastructure where they live than in other regions.
Americans’ concerns about energy reliability also vary considerably depending on where they live, with two regions standing out in particular. Voters in the West South Central census region – Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, and Louisiana – expressed by far the strongest worry, with 2 in 3 extremely or very concerned about the reliability of power in their local area and nearly 3 in 4 (74%) concerned about the electrical grid more broadly. Meanwhile, residents of the Mountain census region are notably less concerned than those living anywhere else in the country. This region spans eight states in the Mountain West, from Arizona and New Mexico in the South to Idaho and Montana in the north. Fewer than 4 in 10 voters in these states (39%) are extremely or very concerned about the reliability of power in their area and 56% are worried about U.S. grid reliability generally.
Looking toward the future, most voters are worried about how projected trends in energy demand may affect their access to affordable, reliable energy. When told that U.S. energy demand is expected to grow quickly in the next few years and asked how concerned they are about the impact this will have on energy prices, 60% of voters – and 79% of those whose energy bills have increased a lot in the last year – say they’re very concerned, while another 32% are somewhat concerned. Nearly half of voters – 49% – are also very concerned about the impact of increased demand on reliability, while 39% are somewhat concerned. In the West South Central region where voters worry most about local power outages, 56% are very concerned that growing demand will affect the reliability of the energy system.
