Californians are looking to consumer-controlled energy production to ease high electricity prices, according to a new survey.
The statewide poll finds strong support for letting consumers and communities take a larger role in producing, managing and sharing electricity — alongside the more familiar work of building generation and transmission.
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The survey was conducted by Bold Decision for Advanced Energy United, an industry trade association.
Seventy percent of likely voters surveyed said they support using personal or community energy devices to lower their utility bills.
Support also ran higher on the question of access. Eighty-seven percent said California should make it easier for consumers to buy or install solar and battery storage. Nearly eight in 10 backed rebates or tax incentives for smart thermostats, rooftop solar, home batteries and heat pumps.
Voters also rejected the idea that clean energy costs them money. By a 2:1 margin, they said encouraging more renewable and clean energy would push electricity costs lower, not higher — 50% versus 25%. Eight in 10 agreed clean energy technologies help Californians save.
That is a useful finding for an industry that has spent a decade arguing the point.
The backdrop is a state under strain.
- Only 36% of voters said California has enough electricity infrastructure to meet current demand.
- Just 30% said it has enough for future needs.
- 85% called electricity costs a major or minor source of stress.
- 80% said the state’s energy challenges are a “new long-term reality.”
Voters did not treat distributed resources as a substitute for the poles and wires. They supported expanding and modernizing generation and transmission too. But they gave comparable weight to the demand side: access to their own usage data, lower overall demand, and compensation for excess power sent back to the grid.
Bold Decision surveyed 1,204 likely voters in the November 2026 general election online from July 21 to July 28.
