By Mark Blankenship
For HDMedia
In my decades of conducting public opinion research, I have learned to pay close attention when voters agree on something at near-unanimous levels. It doesn’t happen often. But our recent statewide survey of West Virginia voters produced one of those rare moments of clarity: when it comes to modernizing the electric grid, West Virginians are not divided. They are united.
MBE Research conducted a survey of registered West Virginia voters between Feb. 6 and Feb. 13. What we found should command the attention of every policymaker in the state.
Among respondents, 95% said modernizing the electric grid should be a priority for policymakers, and 68% said it should be a “very important” priority. These are the numbers you see when an issue touches people’s daily lives in a real and tangible way
That real-world experience is not hard to explain. West Virginia ranks among the worst states in the nation for power outage frequency and duration. The average West Virginia resident experiences nearly three outages per year, with total outage time exceeding 15 hours. Compare that to roughly 1.4 outages and 5.6 hours nationally. Our own survey found that 21% of West Virginians report four or more outages in the past year alone. This is not a theoretical problem. It is a real-life experience for many West Virginians.
What makes these findings especially compelling for policymakers is not just the size of the support, but its depth and geographic spread. This is not a Charleston or Morgantown phenomenon. Support for grid modernization is strong across the state, in urban media markets and rural counties alike.
In the Charleston/Huntington media market, 67% of voters say modernizing the electric grid should be a “very important” priority. In the Clarksburg/Morgantown media market, that number rises to 71%. In the four counties of Monongalia, Preston, Mineral and Hampshire, areas directly affected by new transmission projects, 68% say it should be a “very important” priority. And across 11 counties in the central part of the state impacted by transmission development, 71% share that view.
A clear message for elected officials
This is broad and deep support. And it carries a clear message for all elected officials across the state: your constituents want action on the grid.
Polling on infrastructure can sometimes reveal public support that fails to move the political needle. That is not the case here. After learning more about the issue, nearly two-thirds of West Virginia voters (65%) say they would be more likely to support a candidate who prioritizes improving electric reliability through grid upgrades.
For policymakers who may wonder whether this issue resonates with their base, consider this: 76% of President Donald Trump’s strongest supporters say they would back a pro-grid modernization candidate. This is not a politically risky position. It is a politically rewarding one.
West Virginia voters are not simply expressing frustration with outages. They are articulating a clear-eyed understanding of what grid modernization can do. Our survey found strong public agreement that transmission upgrades will deliver fewer power outages, faster restoration after storms, stronger infrastructure to withstand extreme weather, new construction jobs and broader economic benefits for local communities.
Voters are connecting the dots between infrastructure investment and outcomes that matter to them: reliability, affordability, economic opportunity and resilience.
The message from this survey is unusually clear. West Virginia voters are not ambivalent about their electric grid. They are frustrated by its failures, hopeful about what modernization can deliver, and ready to reward the leaders who make it happen.
The survey shows 95% support. Two-thirds or respondents are ready to vote for candidates who prioritize this issue. Backing that spans every corner of the state and every part of the political spectrum. That is not background noise.
That is a mandate.
Mark Blankenship is the CEO of MBE Research, a West Virginia-based public opinion research firm. MBE Research conducted the statewide survey of 604 registered West Virginia voters cited in this article. The survey was sponsored by West Virginians for Reliable and Affordable Energy.
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