WASHINGTON — Latino families across the United States are disproportionately affected by high energy costs, according to a new report from the Progressive Policy Institute (PPI). The study, “Working Latinos Need Relief from High Energy Costs,” finds that Latino households are nearly twice as likely as white households to experience energy insecurity, defined as difficulty affording energy or maintaining a safe household temperature.

Authored by Elan Sykes, Director of Energy and Climate Policy at PPI, the report highlights how infrastructure gaps, outdated housing, and inefficient appliances drive up energy burdens for working-class Latino communities in both urban and suburban areas. Using case studies from Los Angeles and Boston, the analysis reveals that Latino-majority neighborhoods often lack access to clean, affordable energy due to slow permitting processes and underinvestment in modern grid infrastructure.

“Energy policy too often ignores the daily struggles of working families,” said Sykes. “While many Latino Americans support clean energy, they make decisions based on cost, and current policies leave them paying more for less.”

PPI’s report argues for a shift in environmental justice priorities to include cost, access, and infrastructure alongside climate concerns. The study offers a forward-looking blueprint for energy fairness, including:

• A balanced, technology-neutral energy mix including renewables, nuclear, and low-methane natural gas
• Expedited permitting reforms to accelerate grid and pipeline upgrades.
• Expansion of federal assistance programs like the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) and the Weatherization Assistance Program (WAP)
• Creation of local Community Energy Hubs to connect residents with information and support
• Neighborhood investment in energy-efficient housing, tree cover, and transit options

WASHINGTON — The Progressive Policy Institute (PPI) today released a new report warning that Virginia’s rigid energy mandates are colliding with surging electricity demand from the state’s booming data center industry, creating a policy-induced risk to affordability and grid reliability that could undermine public support for climate progress. As demand accelerates and reliability pressures mount, the report finds that inflexible, technology-specific mandates are increasingly disconnected from economic and system realities.

The report, titled “The Virginia Challenge: Meeting Energy Demand Affordably,” is the third in a PPI series examining how rigid climate mandates and prescriptive technology requirements can threaten affordability and reliability when real-world energy demand and grid constraints are treated as secondary concerns.

“Virginia’s emissions success came from a pragmatic strategy that prioritized reliable, clean power,” said Neel Brown, Managing Director at PPI. “But the state is now forcing the retirement of the very resources that made that progress possible — just as electricity demand is exploding. When policy ignores reliability and affordability, the result is higher costs, greater risk, and eroding public support.”

Authored by Brown and John Kemp, an internationally recognized energy markets expert, the report finds that Virginia’s strong emissions record largely predates the Virginia Clean Economy Act and reflects a successful shift from coal to natural gas and nuclear power. The report warns that today’s rigid mandates, enacted before the data center boom, now risk delivering diminishing climate returns while increasing costs and reliability risks for households and businesses.

Despite this strong baseline, the state’s current energy strategy is increasingly strained by skyrocketing demand, capacity concerns, and mounting wholesale costs. With reliability and affordability at stake, Virginia faces a critical opportunity to recalibrate its approach before inflexible mandates erode both climate progress and public support.

Key findings from the report include:

• Virginia’s electricity demand grew at an annual rate of 3.1% from 2019 to 2024 — more than triple the national average — driven primarily by the explosive growth of data centers in Northern Virginia, now the largest concentration in the world.
• The Virginia Clean Economy Act mandates the retirement of nearly all natural gas and coal generation by 2045, even though gas and nuclear currently provide 87% of the state’s electricity and have been the main drivers of emissions reductions.
• Despite this surge in demand, wind and solar together supplied only 7% of Virginia’s electricity in 2024, underscoring the gap between renewable targets and deployment reality.
• Wholesale electricity costs in the PJM Interconnection region surged more than 40% in the first nine months of 2025, with capacity charges, paid to ensure grid reliability, tripling over the same period.
• Virginia’s per capita emissions (10.8 tons) and carbon intensity per $1 million GDP (158 tons) are already well below the national average, reflecting pre-VCEA gains from replacing coal with lower-emission resources.
• The VCEA’s rigid mandates, crafted before the data center boom, do not account for today’s demand realities, risking reliability shortfalls and rising costs if clean-firm power is retired prematurely.

The authors argue that inflexible technology mandates and statutory retirement deadlines, combined with a failure to adapt to rising demand, have created a structural risk to Virginia’s power grid. When affordability and reliability are overlooked, consumer costs rise, and support for climate action falters. The report urges policymakers to pivot toward outcome-based energy policy, expand clean-firm capacity, and treat affordability as a core indicator of climate policy success.
PPI’s analysis offers a roadmap for recalibrating Virginia’s strategy, emphasizing flexibility, reliability, and fairness, to maintain progress toward decarbonization while safeguarding the Commonwealth’s energy future.

Read and download the report here.

Founded in 1989, PPI is a catalyst for policy innovation and political reform based in Washington, D.C. Its mission is to create radically pragmatic ideas for moving America beyond ideological and partisan deadlock. Find an expert and learn more about PPI by visiting progressivepolicy.org. Follow us @ppi. 

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Media Contact: Ian O’Keefe – iokeefe@ppionline.org

The Progressive Policy Institute (PPI) today released a new report warning that New Jersey’s climate mandates are driving a policy-induced affordability crisis that functions as an “Activist Tax” on households, raising energy costs, straining the power grid, and threatening public support for emissions reduction. As electricity prices surge and clean energy projects stall, the report finds that politically driven mandates are colliding with economic reality in ways that disproportionately burden working families.

The report, titled “New Jersey: Ambitious Goals Meet Reality,” is the second in a PPI series examining how rigid climate mandates and technology-specific requirements can unintentionally impose higher costs on consumers, what the authors describe as an “Activist Tax,” when affordability and grid reliability are treated as secondary concerns.

“New Jersey has already picked the low-hanging fruit,” said Neel Brown, Managing Director at PPI. “What remains are the hardest and most expensive steps, and when policymakers ignore affordability, those costs become an ‘Activist Tax’ paid by working families. That’s how you lose public support for climate action altogether.”

Authored by Brown and John Kemp, an internationally recognized energy markets expert, the report finds that New Jersey’s strong emissions record reflects structural advantages, not recent policy mandates, meaning today’s high-cost requirements deliver diminishing climate returns while increasing the “Activist Tax” on residents.

Despite this strong baseline, the state’s current energy strategy is increasingly strained by rising costs, grid constraints, and stalled clean energy projects. With energy affordability a top focus for Governor-elect Mikie Sherrill, New Jersey faces a critical opportunity to recalibrate its approach before mounting pressures undermine both climate progress and political support.

Key findings from the report include:

• Left- and right-wing ideological interventions are imposing an “Activist Tax” on New Jersey, with supply constrained by rigid climate mandates and Trump’s war on wind and renewable energy, driving up electricity prices and household energy bills.
• Electricity prices in NJ surged nearly 20% in 2025, one of the highest increases in the nation, driven by capacity constraints and growing demand from data centers.
• New Jersey’s emissions per capita (10 tons) and per economic output (137 tons per $1M GDP) are among the lowest in the country, largely due to urban density and a service-based economy, not new energy technologies.
• The state’s 2050 climate mandates require an 82% cut in building emissions and a 62% cut in electricity generation emissions, calling for a sweeping transformation in home heating and power generation.
• More than 90% of New Jersey’s electricity still comes from natural gas and nuclear, with minimal deployment of wind or solar. The planned 11 GW of offshore wind is delayed and uncertain following the Trump administration’s suspension of key federal leases.
• The convergence of rising demand, shrinking supply, and surging costs is threatening the state’s climate timeline and eroding public support, especially among low- and moderate-income households.

The authors argue that rigid technology mandates, premature plant retirements, and politically motivated interventions have imposed what they call an “Activist Tax,” a policy-driven cost burden that ultimately falls on consumers. When affordability erodes, public support for climate policy erodes with it. The report urges policymakers to pivot toward outcome-based policies, prioritize clean, firm baseload power, and treat affordability as a core metric of climate success.

PPI’s analysis offers a roadmap for recalibrating the state’s climate strategy, emphasizing flexibility, affordability protections, and pragmatic planning to sustain momentum toward decarbonization.

Read and download the report here.

Founded in 1989, PPI is a catalyst for policy innovation and political reform based in Washington, D.C. Its mission is to create radically pragmatic ideas for moving America beyond ideological and partisan deadlock. Find an expert and learn more about PPI by visiting progressivepolicy.org. Follow us @ppi.

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Media Contact: Ian O’Keefe – iokeefe@ppionline.org

WASHINGTON — Today, the Progressive Policy Institute (PPI) released a new report warning that New York is entering a climate and energy cost crisis as the state falls far behind its statutory decarbonization mandates. The report, “New York’s Climate Crossroads: Assuring Affordable Energy,” finds that New York’s current energy strategy is driving up costs for families, constraining reliable supply, and jeopardizing the political viability of the state’s climate agenda. PPI produced the analysis to help lawmakers, regulators, and stakeholders chart a practical path that aligns climate ambition with affordability and reliability.

Authored by Neel Brown, Managing Director at PPI, and John Kemp, an internationally recognized expert on energy markets and systems, the report outlines how New York is off track on key goals ranging from emissions reduction to renewable generation to offshore wind deployment. Distributed solar is the only measure on pace to meet statutory targets. According to the state’s own data, offshore wind and energy storage are classified as severely behind schedule, underscoring systemic challenges in the state’s planning and execution.

“New York set bold climate targets, but ignored the economic and technical realities required to achieve them,” said Brown. “The result is an energy system that is less reliable, more expensive, and now politically unsustainable. Unless policymakers course correct, the state risks turning a climate leadership story into a cautionary tale.”

Key takeaways from the report include:

• New York’s emissions per capita are already among the nation’s lowest at 8.4 tons, more than 40% below the U.S. average.
• Electricity prices are 44% higher than the national average, and residential rates have risen 36% since 2019, nearly three times faster than the rest of the country.
• New York is behind on nearly every major climate mandate, including offshore wind, which is 1% operational, and energy storage, which is 8% operational toward 2030 goals. Only distributed solar is on track.
• Fossil fuels still supply nearly half of New York’s electricity, and the closure of Indian Point erased a major source of zero-emission power, slowing the state’s progress.
• Utilities are pursuing additional rate hikes of roughly 20%, driven by aging infrastructure, storm repairs, and rising operating costs, adding further pressure on households already facing higher energy bills.

The report highlights a growing collision between shrinking dispatchable power supply, state-driven increases in electricity demand, and rising ratepayer costs. The closure of the Indian Point nuclear facility removed a major source of zero-emission electricity, while state policies have blocked upgrades to aging natural gas plants and restricted natural gas pipeline capacity. These decisions have tightened supply and added cost pressures.

According to the analysis, residential electricity prices in New York have risen at nearly three times the national average since 2019. Utilities have requested further rate hikes of roughly 20%, citing infrastructure needs, storm recovery, and rising operating costs.

The authors outline a set of pragmatic considerations for policymakers, including shifting from technology mandates to outcome-driven policies, modernizing existing natural gas infrastructure to preserve reliability, and prioritizing affordability to maintain public support.

Read and download the report here.

WASHINGTON — Today, the Progressive Policy Institute (PPI) released a new report outlining nine concrete reforms to fix America’s broken permitting system and accelerate the clean energy transition while preserving strong environmental protections. The report, “Bureaucracy Blocks Green Progress: 9 Ideas for Democratic Permitting Reform,” makes the case that modernizing federal permitting is essential to lowering energy costs, strengthening national security, and building the infrastructure required for long-term economic growth. The report is designed to help Democratic lawmakers identify practical reforms they can champion as part of a bipartisan permitting deal.

Authored by Colin Mortimer, PPI’s Senior Director of Partnerships, the report argues that outdated and duplicative review processes have become a major obstacle to building both clean energy projects and traditional infrastructure. From transmission lines to renewable power to wildfire mitigation efforts, years of delay and litigation are driving up costs for families, deterring investment, and slowing America’s ability to compete globally.

“Permitting reform is not about weakening environmental protections. It is about making sure the projects that cut emissions, lower costs, and strengthen our grid are no longer trapped in regulatory limbo,” said Mortimer. “Democrats in Congress have a strategic opportunity to lead, shape bipartisan outcomes, and ensure reforms deliver both climate progress and economic gains.”

The report highlights the significant national consequences of inaction. According to recent industry and economic analyses, permitting delays have cost the United States more than $100 billion in lost investment, delayed 150,000 jobs, and led to hundreds of millions of tons of additional carbon emissions this decade. With electricity demand expected to rise sharply due to AI, manufacturing growth, and electrification, the need for a modernized permitting framework has never been more urgent.

PPI’s nine recommendations include:

1. Establishing firm environmental review deadlines to prevent endless analysis
2. Codifying Supreme Court limits on overly expansive environmental reviews
3. Adopting a 150-day statute of limitations for lawsuits that challenge approved projects
4. Creating a true federal single front door to coordinate and accelerate multi-agency reviews
5. Reforming private right of action rules to curb abuse without silencing legitimate concerns
6. Expanding FERC’s authority to site critical transmission and modernize natural gas review processes
7. Providing agencies with the resources needed to conduct faster and more rigorous reviews
8. Encouraging revenue sharing to strengthen local support for clean energy and infrastructure
9. Limiting unilateral executive power to revoke major projects that have already met the required standards

“These ideas show that permitting reform can be both pro-environment and pro-growth,” added Mortimer. “If Democrats help shape the conversation, they can secure reforms that speed clean energy deployment, create jobs, and give communities a direct stake in America’s energy future.”

The report emphasizes that durable permitting reform must also be bipartisan. With Congress preparing for major legislative negotiations, PPI argues that Democrats in Congress have much to gain by putting forward solutions that align climate ambition with practical implementation and affordability.

Read and download the report here.

Founded in 1989, PPI is a catalyst for policy innovation and political reform based in Washington, D.C. Its mission is to create radically pragmatic ideas for moving America beyond ideological and partisan deadlock. Find an expert and learn more about PPI by visiting progressivepolicy.org. Follow us @PPI. 

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Media Contact: Ian O’Keefe – iokeefe@ppionline.org