NEW: Welcome to Consumers for Affordable Electricity

Electricity is easy to take for granted, at least until the bill arrives. Across the country, families and businesses are feeling the impact of rising electricity costs, and in some regions, those increases are happening faster than inflation and faster than many other household expenses.

Today, the Taxpayers Protection Alliance (TPA) launched a new consumer watchdog project, Consumers for Affordable Electricity, dedicated to fighting the regulatory barriers keeping electricity prices high and urging pro-consumer reforms. Consumers across the country have felt the impact of rising electricity prices resulting from onerous government rules and red tape. It’s time to fix this broken status quo.

From wholesale business expenses, to household power bills, to groceries and essentials, electricity costs are embedded in the price of everything.  

To help consumers understand the cause of rising prices, Consumers for Affordable Electricity has launched a new video explaining PJM Interconnection (PJM) and the outdated regulatory regime that currently operates the grid for 67 million people across 13 states and the District of Columbia.

In states like Pennsylvania and Maryland, electric bills are rising faster than ever before because PJM largely bans utilities from producing their own power, instead forcing them to buy electricity through regional auctions where prices can surge when supply tightens.

A System That Needs Reform

The current system was built on the promise of “competition,” but in practice, it has significantly limited who can compete. At a time when electricity demand is growing rapidly, that approach is increasingly unsustainable.

Consumers for Affordable Electricity was created educate Americans about these challenges and advocate for practical, pro-consumer solutions.

We are focused on:

• Affordability & Reliability: Prioritizing stable rates and consistent power delivery for families and small businesses, driven by genuine market-based competition.
• Capacity to Expand: Ensuring the grid can meet all-time high demand through timely infrastructure development.
• Market Comparison: Highlighting how regions that allow utility-owned generation maintain more stable pricing than PJM’s auction-based system.
• Vertical Integration: Supporting the ability of utilities to own and operate power plants to better plan for future supply.
• IPP Accountability: Challenging the red tape-driven dominance of Independent Power Producers (IPPs) that set prices in distorted regional auctions.

For years, states have closed off power generation to competition by not allowing utilities to own their own power plants. The results have been unsurprising: IPPs have been shielded from market discipline and are free to raise prices on struggling families and businesses. This status-quo is not only unfair, but also unsustainable. Consumers for Affordable Electricity will call attention to these issues and urge pro-competition reforms.

It’s time for pro-consumer and pro-growth policies that pave the way for affordable and plentiful power. Consumers for Affordable Electricity will demand reform and accountability.