The opportunity on clean energy and affordability: bigger than you think.

What Americans really believe about energy costs and clean power

The rising cost of living has been a top concern, not just in the U.S., but across the world. Energy bills in particular have been skyrocketing, and families are being forced to choose between keeping their homes warm enough or cool enough – or putting food on the table. Even though the production cost of clean energy has fallen dramatically, leaders are worried that their constituents might perceive it as a “luxury that we can’t afford.”

Earlier this year, we conducted a research study with over 15,000 US participants to understand: What does the public truly believe about high energy bills, and what do they think we should do to solve it?

“Cost of living” is the concern, but less than 3% of Americans blame clean energy or climate policy.

The vast majority of Americans (75%) agree that we are in a “cost of living crisis,” and electric bills are among their most stressful expenses. But when asked to name who or what they blame for the increased price of electric bills, less than 3% of all respondents mentioned clean energy or climate policies. Who do they blame? The most cited culprit by far was their utility company.

Is clean energy more expensive? Reality check: clean energy is the cheaper, better option.

Our research shows that effective clean energy messaging can strengthen public understanding of its affordability and reinforce support for cheaper, reliable solutions.

When it comes to affordability, clean energy is viewed more as a solution than a problem. Most Americans (53%) already believe that clean energy costs the same or less than energy from fossil fuels, and only 28% think fossil is cheaper. Even among Republicans, clean energy and fossil fuels are about tied on perceived affordability.

Most also believe that fossil fuels will get more expensive: 68% expect natural gas to get more expensive over the next decade, and 75% expect that to be true for gasoline.

Our climate change communication guide expands on these framing strategies to help build support across audiences.

That makes it a no-brainer when asked to choose between the better cost-saving option: (a) building new solar energy generation, or (b) new oil and gas drilling. Roughly twice as many support new solar (57%) compared to new oil and gas drilling (27%).

That’s interesting: Clean energy isn’t a problem for our affordability crisis; it’s part of the solution.

Public opinion is already on our side, and with the right narrative, we can position clean energy as the most affordable energy available. Through our research, we learned that we can increase the perceived affordability of clean energy by another 29 percentage points with a simple narrative that actively brands clean energy as “cheap.”

Here’s how to win the narrative effectively:

Should we abandon “climate change” for “clean energy”? (Spoiler: we need to do both.)

This study focused specifically on perceptions of clean energy and affordability. But it’s important to note that the cost-of-living crisis did not decrease the urgency for climate action more broadly. If your goal is to increase support for climate action, messages on the tangible consequences of extreme weather and the importance of protecting the people and places we love remain the most effective.

Framing clean energy around affordability helps audiences see its practical value and strengthens support across political and economic groups. For more on how to apply this approach in practice, explore this clean energy affordability guide.

Now is not the time to shy away from clean energy or climate change conversations. With the right messages, we can build momentum for the lasting solutions we so urgently need.

To read more in-depth about this study, please read our brand new report, The Cheaper, Better Choice: Messaging clean energy in a cost-of-living crisis. We hope the report is useful, and look forward to continuing the conversation.