Voters See Lower Costs as the Most Compelling Case for Clean Energy -- but Do Not Yet Believe the Savings Are Real, New Heatmap Research Finds

Three-phase study of more than 5,000 registered voters identifies three distinct audiences — Persuaded, Persuadables, and Skeptics — each responding to different climate and clean energy messages but all distrustful of institutional messengers

NEW YORK, Sept. 10, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Heatmap News today published Communicating about Climate and Clean Energy in an Age of Affordability, a new research report examining how arguments about climate and clean energy resonate with Americans across the political spectrum. Based on a three-phase study that Heatmap commissioned from Embold Research, the report explores how to connect with voters at a moment when anxiety about the cost of living outweighs concerns about a warming planet.

The report finds that a single concern runs beneath the many differences among voters: their increasingly expensive electricity bill. Whatever their view of climate change, voters respond most strongly to arguments about cost. Yet the affordability argument advocates rely on most — that solar and wind are now among the least expensive sources of new power — is widely disbelieved by voters whose primary exposure to clean energy is costly consumer technology and who distrust institutional messengers. Closing that perception gap, the report concludes, is the central challenge of the affordability era in climate politics.

"What draws voters to clean energy, more than anything else, is the promise of lower bills, and yet many don't believe that promise," said Andrea Everett, Principal Researcher at Embold Research, which conducted the study for Heatmap. "Their sense of what clean energy costs was set by the price of a rooftop solar system or an electric vehicle, not by how cheap renewables have become at utility scale."

"We hope this research will stimulate much-needed debate on how public and private sector leaders can engage more effectively with Americans about protecting the environment and believing in clean energy technologies," said Randy Siegel, President of Heatmap News. "In this age of affordability, new approaches are needed to address voter concerns about climate change and the escalating cost of energy."

The report segments the electorate into the Persuaded (42% of voters), Persuadables (31%), and Skeptics (22%), and examines what each audience values, whom it trusts, and which arguments move it. Key findings include:

• "The environment" resonates where "climate" does not. Among Persuadables, 65% rate the environment a very or extremely important issue, but only 32% say the same of climate change; among Skeptics the gap is 32% to 1%. Voters explained that "climate" carries a partisan charge, while "the environment" connects to values they already hold.
  
  
• The affordability case is not yet believed. 55% of voters believe solar and wind are cost-competitive only because of subsidies, and 57% say advocates exaggerate how inexpensive they have become. For many voters, "clean energy" means a $50,000 rooftop solar quote, and that impression of high cost extends to solar and wind farms.
  
  
• Every message was easier to like than to believe. Three candidate messages, each written for a specific segment, were tested with the full electorate. About half of voters found each message appealing; only about a third found it believable.
  
  
• The common denominator is the electricity bill. Whichever message voters preferred, they kept returning to the same thing: lower bills. "Putting family bills ahead of utility profits" was the leading draw in one message (51%) and "lower bills for every household" in another (44%).
  
  
• Trust in institutional messengers is low. Only independent scientists and researchers are trusted by a majority of Persuadables on energy; majorities distrust renewable energy companies, elected officials, government, and utilities.

The publication of Communicating about Climate and Clean Energy in an Age of Affordability marks the beginning of a Heatmap initiative to understand, in greater depth and with continuing research, how Americans think about climate, energy, and the environment, and how that understanding can inform the work of those seeking to build projects, pass and protect policy, and earn public support for the energy transition.

The full report can be downloaded free here.

About the research

Phase 1, a national survey of 3,210 registered voters, was fielded November 18–December 3, 2025 with a modeled margin of error of 1.8%. Phase 2 consisted of 15 in-depth interviews with voters from each segment, conducted February 13–March 9, 2026. Phase 3, a national survey of 2,161 registered voters, was fielded June 22–29, 2026 with a modeled margin of error of  2.2%.

About Heatmap News 

Heatmap covers the technology, policy, politics, and business of the energy transition through original reporting, newsletters, podcasts, events and Heatmap Pro, its data and research service for energy professionals. Learn more at Heatmap.news.

About Embold Research

Embold Research is your audience research partner. We combine curiosity, rigor, and innovative technology to reach everyone from specific communities to the broader public, so leaders can make decisions with confidence. Learn more at emboldresearch.com.

SOURCE Heatmap News