Natural gas is an unpredictable source of affordable energy, Ohio experts said, as more communities work to electrify homes and buildings to lower costs in the long-term and invest in renewable sources.

One Dayton nonprofit is even helping low-income residents swap out gas appliances for electric ones.

Aileen Hull, community engagement coordinator for the Dayton Energy Collaborative, said her organization is working through grant funding to expand the number of households eligible for free electrification, home repair and weatherization programs.

"Especially if you have gas-powered appliances, you're creating on-site carbon emissions, and that's not helpful for the health of the home, nor the neighborhood," Hull contended. "It's directly related to people's health."

Ohio was awarded $249 million in federal funding through the Inflation Reduction Act, to offer rebates to residents for home energy efficiency projects. The Ohio Department of Development's Office of Energy and Environment is hosting upcoming virtual and in-person public feedback sessions on the program's design and implementation. Information is online at development.ohio.gov.

Nat Ziegler, program manager for the coalition Power A Clean Future Ohio, said the unpredictability in prices, including extreme volatility and highs in 2022, have raised concerns about the sustainability of relying on natural gas. Ziegler added federal tax incentives are expanding options for people who want to electrify their homes and boost energy efficiency.

"There are not only market dynamics that are making electricity much more affordable than natural gas, but there are also particular programs and policies that are coming online soon in Ohio that will continue to accelerate that transition to more affordable electricity," Ziegler explained.

Jon-Paul d'Aversa, senior energy policy adviser for Power A Clean Future Ohio, said expanding the state's renewable energy sources is one way to keep costs down and reduce emissions. He pointed out solar and wind have good track records for supplying cost-effective electricity.

"When you dig into the numbers, you start to see a few interesting things," d'Aversa observed. "One is that the price of electricity is really consistent, so it's something that folks can rely on when you have bills and you're trying to plan."

Local governments can reduce energy costs through "aggregation," or the process of collectively buying electricity from a specific source at a lower price. The coalition has developed a toolkit with resources to help communities get started.

TThousands of Kentucky families face utility disconnections this summer, and the latest budget reconciliation bill would eliminate the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program, which helps millions of Americans afford their heating and cooling expenses.

The move would significantly impact Eastern Kentucky counties, where many households spend more than a third of their income on energy bills, said Chris Woolery, energy projects coordinator for the Mountain Association. He added that many households are stressed over both paying their energy bills and providing for their families' other needs.

"We're talking hundreds of thousands of households across Kentucky," he said, "and some of them face disconnections."

In 2024 alone, the program was utilized more than 219,000 times by households across the state, who received up to $250 per season. Supporters of defunding the program have argued that lower energy prices are on the horizon.

Earlier this year, lawmakers introduced legislation aimed at preventing disconnections during extreme weather events.

Woolery said eastern Kentucky is one of the most energy-burdened regions in the country. Without the energy assistance program as a safety net for working families, elderly residents and people with disabilities, he said, state-level protections are critical.

"We're trying to get more Kentuckians involved in the conversation," he said, "and that's why we're pushing for disconnection protections at the legislative level."

According to state data, Kentucky's average energy burden is 3%, but for low-income and disadvantaged communities, energy costs can be as high as 18%. The federal government allocated approximately $54 million in safety-net funds to Kentucky in fiscal year 2025.

Michigan taxpayers may end up footing the bill to keep an aging coal plant open.

The J.H. Campbell plant was scheduled to close on May 31, but a last-minute order from the Department of Energy is forcing it to stay open.

The owner of the plant, Consumers Energy, says it wants the facility shuttered, but its hands are tied.

Dennis Wamsted, energy analyst with the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis, said the Trump administration can use the Federal Power Act to force aging coal plants to stay open under emergency conditions.

"A really severe winter storm requires plants to continue to operate above what might be their normal generation levels," said Wamsted. "So there are provisions to operate plants or order them to remain online if there's a real emergency. This was not a real emergency."

Since 2021, Consumers Energy has built new solar and wind generation resources and purchased a natural gas-fired power plant.

These moves were made to replace energy produced by the J.H. Campbell plant and for a complete transition from coal production by the end of 2025.

President Donald Trump issued an executive order in April authorizing the Department of Energy to keep plants open using the Federal Power Act.

Trump said he wants to meet a rise in electricity demand due to an anticipated surge in domestic manufacturing and the construction of artificial intelligence data processing centers.

Wamsted said he believes the taxpayer burden to support J.H. Campbell is unfair and expensive.

When estimating the plant's operating costs, he cited an example from 2023, when the owners of a West Virginia coal plant were forced to keep a site open.

Monthly operating costs were at $3 million. Wamsted called that a "good figure" for J.H. Campbell's operational costs.

"They have to pay the staff to keep the plant there," said Wamsted. "They have to pay to run the pipes and keep the turbine so it can actually produce electricity. So you end up paying that $3 million or more just to keep the plant able to operate."

Wamsted said he is not aware of any legal action taken to force the plant's closure, move upkeep expenses out of taxpayers' hands, or recover the money at a later date.

He said things could change if there's a filing with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, which would allow outside intervenors to force the plant to close or challenge a tariff.

Pennsylvania's U.S. Senators are being asked to do what they can to safeguard federal clean energy tax credits, which are on the chopping block in the big budget reconciliation bill in Congress.

The nonpartisan think tank Energy Innovation said repealing these credits could lead to a loss of 26,000 jobs in Pennsylvania by 2030 and even more by 2035.

Robbie Orvis, senior director of modeling and analysis for Energy Innovation, said losing tax credits from the Inflation Reduction Act would make clean energy manufacturing and clean power projects less viable and increase household energy bills.

"In Pennsylvania in particular, we found that the loss of the clean energy tax credits would lead to $60 per year in higher household energy bills by 2030 growing to $80 per year by 2035," Orvis reported. "That amounts to more than $2 billion more in spending on energy for Pennsylvanians between 2025 and 2035."

He added the lost incentives would also mean $5 billion in lost state gross domestic product by 2030, and $6 billion by 2035. In Congress, Senators are divided over whether to keep the Biden-era tax credits.

Aaron Nichols, solar policy and research specialist for the Bucks County system installer Exact Solar, said solar allows thousands of Pennsylvania homes and businesses to save on energy bills and gives them a choice beyond big utilities. The tax credits make the switch easier.

"Solar energy made up 66% of the new electricity-generating capacity added to the grid last year," Nichols pointed out. "As people have taken advantage of these incentives, the solar industry has grown, creating thousands of good-paying jobs."

Mike Zimmerman, senior attorney for electrification at the advocacy group EDF Action in Pittsburgh, said they have seen more than $1 billion in clean energy investments in the state from battery manufacturing in Turtle Creek to solar manufacturing in Leetsdale and grid technology production in Williamsport. He added 27 gigawatts of mostly solar, wind and battery projects are waiting to connect to the grid.

"These facilities are doing much more than creating jobs," Zimmerman emphasized. "They're cutting energy costs for families, meeting growing energy demand and reducing the pollution that threatens our health and our state's natural resources."

Backers of keeping the clean energy tax credits said repealing them would lead to more fossil fuel use, which worsens air quality and is linked to serious health problems.