PHOTO ESSAY: In a corner of Appalachia, soaring utility costs are surpassing rents and mortgages

WEST COLUMBIA, W.Va. (AP) — Eric Pinson is obsessed with stacks of electric bills laid out in neat piles on his desk. He runs a camping trailer park in West Virginia not far from a planned data center — all in the shadow of an enormous coal-powered plant that recently received millions in funding from the Trump administration for upgrades.

The site was the last stop for many folks struggling to make it. But when electricity prices jumped last year, Pinson was forced to increase the all-inclusive rent from $350 to $400 a month. That shoved at least 16 campers out of the site, including some longtime residents.

“They were just right on the edge. … It’s hard, just watching it happen, and so many of them,” he said, adding out-of-state workers have moved in to replace them as the state woos big investments such as data centers. “It’s all about change.”

Thousands of West Virginians have been posting screenshots of monthly charges they are struggling to pay. They are angry over soaring utility cost s that eclipsed rents and mortgages this winter in one of the most energy-rich, yet poorest, corners of America.

President Donald Trump, as part of his campaign pitch to “make America affordable again,” promised to cut Americans’ electricity bills by at least half during his first year to 18 months in the White House.

Instead, electricity increased 4.8% in February nationwide and piped natural gas prices rose 10.9%, both compared with a year earlier, according to the Labor Department’s Consumer Price Index. That surpassed inflation even before the attacks on Iran by the U.S. and Israel sent energy costs ballooning.

Rebecca Michalski, who’s disabled, was forced to take out a loan this winter to pay her electric bill due to high heating costs. Her February charge was $940.08 — more than her fixed income and mortgage. She’s still behind on her payments and said she expects the lights will ultimately be shut off.

“It’s breaking me. And there’s nothing that can be done for it, unless the president does something,” said Michalski, adding she no longer supports Trump. “And I don’t see him doing it. He’s had plenty of time.”

The White House said lowering electricity prices is a top priority for the president, and that he is “aggressively unleashing reliable energy sources like coal and natural gas.”

West Virginia is an outlier nationwide because of its resistance to adopting cleaner, cheaper sources of energy, such as natural gas, nuclear power and renewables like wind and solar. Instead, it clings to aging coal-powered electric plants more than anywhere else in the country — about 87% of all production.

Even though monthly bills remain higher in other states, salaries in West Virginia have simply not kept pace — it’s the only place in the country where the median inflation-adjusted household income was lower in 2023 than it was in 1970, according to the Urban Institute.

Increased demand, extreme weather and events, upgrading and maintaining aging infrastructure and rising natural gas prices are pushing electricity bills higher. Ratepayers are also wary as more power-gobbling data centers for artificial intelligence and cloud computing are being built. They are questioning noise pollution, huge water consumption and the effect on their electricity prices.

In February, Gov. Patrick Morrisey announced plans to build a $4 billion data center on nearly 550 acres in Berkeley County.

Another one is expected not far from Charles “Duke” Hodge’s mobile home. He lives with his two dogs in the park along the Ohio River that’s lost several of its camping trailers over the past year due to high energy costs. The veteran and retired railroad worker is a little better off, but says he’s been forced to occasionally take on part-time work to help pay his bills. During the hottest part of summer, he said he paid up to $140 a month for electricity. But after turning his heat on last year, his rates began to skyrocket.

“Once fall hits, everybody expects it to go up, but not 200 to 300%,” he said. “I went from $120 a month to $275, then it went to $350. Now, the last one was $450.”

That’s $60 more than his mortgage payment.

—-

This is a documentary photo story curated by AP photo editors.

American Electric Power's John Amos coal-fired plant in Winfield, W.Va., stands behind a Dollar General store, Sunday, March 22, 2026, in Poca, W.Va. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

Ed Tierney, left, and David Horne, struggle to load an overloaded pallet onto a truck at they close up one of two JCD Bargain and Trade stores, to consolidate with the other location, in Ravenswood, W.Va., Friday, March 13, 2026. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

Anthony Crihfield Jones wipes tears outside his JCD Bargain and Trade store near Ripley, W.Va., Friday, March 13, 2026, as he closed his other nearby location to consolidate his businesses under one roof due to high electric bills. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

David Horne removes the "Welcome" banner from its pole to put in the dumpster as he works to close up one of the two JCD Bargain and Trade stores, which will consolidate into one location in Ravenswood, W.Va., Friday, March 13, 2026. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

Philip Moulton sweeps the bench outside his Ravenswood Arts gallery where his dog JoJo peers through window, Friday, March 13, 2026, in Ravenswood W.Va., where surging electricity costs have forced some stores out of business. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

A railroad crossing is seen in the evening light, Thursday, March 12, 2026, in Ravenswood, W.Va., where some shop owners were forced to shut down during winter because they couldn't pay their electric bills. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

Rebecca Michalski, who recently took out a loan to pay her electric bills, sits with her Chihuahua named Enos in the dark in her home in Rainelle, W.Va., Saturday, March 21, 2026. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

Rebecca Michalski works on her diamond painting kit by window light, in an effort to save money on her electricity bill, at her home in Rainelle, W.Va., Saturday, March 21, 2026, next to a photo of her daughter Sabrina Nicole Adkins, who passed away last year and whose funeral costs were difficult to afford. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

Rebecca Michalski pauses as she talks about electric bills she cannot pay while sitting next to her Chihuahua, Enos, at her home in Rainelle, W.Va., Saturday, March 21, 2026. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

A U.S. flag decorates an electric pole outside Ashley Nicole Dixon's home in Danese, W.Va., Saturday, March 21, 2026. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

Ashley Nicole Dixon, clutching a binder with the records of pit bulls she has rescued, talks about her rising electric bills outside her home in Danese, W.Va., Saturday, March 21, 2026. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

Ashley Nicole Dixon shows her electrical panel below the electric meter as one of her rescued dogs, Lola, holds a toy, at her home in Danese, W.Va., Saturday, March 21, 2026. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

John White Jr., stands near propane tanks he uses for cooking outside his home at the Lock 24 RV Park and Campground in Racine, Ohio, Saturday, March 14, 2026, across the Ohio River from the coal-fired Mountaineer Power Plant, near New Haven, W.Va. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

John White Jr. helps his daughter, Paisley, 3, zip her hoodie as his son, Malachi, 5, walks outside their home at the Lock 24 RV Park and Campground in Racine, Ohio, Saturday, March 14, 2026, across the Ohio River from the coal-fired Mountaineer Power Plant, near New Haven, W.Va. “In a winter season, I can say I pay a lot and honestly do not know how I do it. It has been hard,” said White Jr. who struggles to pay his utility bills. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

John White Jr.'s children, Paisley, 3, right, and Malachi, 5, play outside their home at the Lock 24 RV Park and Campground in Racine, Ohio, Saturday, March 14, 2026, across the Ohio River from the coal-fired Mountaineer Power Plant, near New Haven, W.Va. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

Barges of coal travel along the Ohio River past the coal-fired Mountaineer Power Plant, near New Haven, W.Va., Friday, March 13, 2026. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

Eric Pinson, right, manager and resident of the Lock 24 RV Park and Campground, is joined by tenant John White Jr., as he looks at an electric meter on the campground in Racine, Ohio, Friday, March 13, 2026. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

Eric Pinson, manager and resident of the Lock 24 RV Park and Campground, one of two such locations he manages in the area, looks over the business' electric bills, at his home at the campground in Racine, Ohio, Friday, March 13, 2026. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

Lock 24 RV Park and Campground manager Eric Pinson, left, and Kirsten Haas pore over the campground's electric bills, at their home at the campground in Racine, Ohio, Friday, March 13, 2026. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

Eric Pinson, manager and resident of the Lock 24 RV Park and Campground, one of two such locations he manages in the area, is silhouetted at dusk as the coal-fired Mountaineer Power Plant, near New Haven, W.Va., stands across the Ohio River from the campground, Friday, March 13, 2026, in Racine, Ohio. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

VILNIUS, Lithuania (AP) — Residents of Vilnius were told to take shelter and Lithuania's president and prime minister were taken to safe locations Wednesday because of an alarm over drone activity near the border with Belarus, underlining jitters on NATO's eastern flank over incursions related to Russia's war with Ukraine.

An emergency announcement from the military told people in the Vilnius region to “immediately head to a shelter or a safe place.”

The alert, which lasted for about an hour, also led to the closure of the airspace over Vilnius Airport. President Gitanas Nauseda and Prime Minister Inga Ruginiene were taken to shelters, and there was also an evacuation order at Lithuania's parliament, the Seimas, the BNS news agency reported.

It was the first major alert that sent residents and political leaders in a European Union and NATO capital rushing to shelters since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

“Based on the parameters we saw, it’s most likely either a combat drone or a drone designed to deceive systems and lure targets,” Vilmantas Vitkauskas, head of Lithuania’s National Crisis Management Center, said in a news briefing. “The electronic countermeasures here can’t tell us whether an explosive device detonated or not. It’s very, very difficult."

Based on the altitude and speed, it was probably a drone, he said, "though we can’t say at this stage exactly what kind of drone it was or where it was launched from.”

Lithuania borders Russia-allied Belarus to the east and Russia's Kaliningrad exclave to the west. Wednesday's alert came after the military said it detected drone activity in Belarus, but no drones were sighted over Lithuania.

On Wednesday, NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte commended the alliance’s reaction to several drone incidents in recent days, saying that they had been met with “a calm, decisive and proportionate response.” Rutte said: “This is exactly what we planned and prepared for,” and he blamed Russia’s war on Ukraine for the problem.

In recent months, Ukrainian drones aimed at Russia have crossed or come down in NATO territory on numerous occasions. Western officials have blamed what they say is likely Russian electronic jamming of the drones. Russia, meanwhile, has renewed threats that it would retaliate if Ukrainian drones are launched from Baltic countries or if those countries are complicit in their use against Russia.

On Tuesday evening, Lithuanian Foreign Minister Kęstutis Budrys wrote on social media that “Russia is deliberately redirecting Ukrainian drones into Baltic airspace while waging smear campaigns” against Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia. “It’s a transparent act of desperation — an attempt to sow chaos and distract from a simple reality: (Ukraine) is hitting Russian military machine hard.”

Budrys' comment came hours after a NATO jet shot down a Ukrainian drone over southern Estonia. Ukraine apologized for that “unintended incident,” without specifying what had happened.

Last week, Latvia’s government collapsed following an argument over the handling of multiple incidents involving stray drones suspected to be from Ukraine. The defense minister was forced to quit after his party withdrew its support for him, and the prime minister then resigned. The governing coalition had been under strain for months over several other issues.

In a recent escalation of aerial attacks, Russia and Ukraine have sometimes fired hundreds of drones a day at each other.

Ukraine’s air force said Wednesday that it shot down 131 out of 154 drones that Russia launched overnight. The ones that got past air defenses killed three civilians and wounded 18 others, including two children, officials said.

Ukraine, meanwhile, continued its aerial campaign against Russia’s vital oil industry, with the General Staff reporting its drones struck a major Russian oil refinery and a pipeline pumping station overnight.

Russian media reports also indicated that a chemical plant in the southern Stavropol region was hit and caught fire, although local officials didn’t confirm any direct hit.

The U.K. government, a strong supporter of Ukraine's war effort, has loosened strict sanctions on Russian oil refined into diesel and jet fuel in third countries as prices rise due to the Iran war.

The waiver begins Wednesday and reflects growing supply concerns over certain fuels due to the effective blockade of the key Strait of Hormuz waterway.

That step comes two days after U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent announced that Washington was granting a 30-day extension for countries to import Russian oil that is already in tankers at sea, a move that is meant to reduce the oil supply shortages.

The announcement marked a continued policy reversal by the Trump administration, which had previously said the sanctions on Russian oil would resume. Originally announced in early March, the temporary waiver on the sanctions was first renewed in April.

Geir Moulson in Berlin, Lorne Cook in Brussels, Hanna Arhirova in Kyiv, Ukraine and Barry Hatton in Lisbon, Portugal contributed to this report.

Follow the AP’s coverage of the war in Ukraine at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine

NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte speaks during a media conference at NATO headquarters in Brussels, Wednesday, May 20, 2026. (AP Photo/Virginia Mayo)

People take shelter in an underground car park during an air raid alert in Vilnius, Lithuania, Wednesday, May 20, 2026. (Vygintas Skaraitis/Lrytas via AP)

People take shelter in an underground car park during an air raid alert in Vilnius, Lithuania, Wednesday, May 20, 2026. (Vygintas Skaraitis/Lrytas via AP)

In this photo provided by the Ukrainian Emergency Services on Wednesday, May 20, 2026, rescue workers put out a fire of a residential building damaged after a Russian strike on Konotop, Ukraine. (Ukrainian Emergency Service via AP)

The phone shows the received message "The Lithuanian military reports: "AIR DANGER. Hurry to cover or a safe place without delay, take care of your loved ones, wait for further recommendations. We will inform you about the end of the danger in a separate message", in Vilnius, Lithuania, Wednesday, May 20, 2026. (AP Photo/Mindaugas Kulbis)

The phone shows the received message "The Lithuanian military reports: "AIR DANGER. Hurry to cover or a safe place without delay, take care of your loved ones, wait for further recommendations. We will inform you about the end of the danger in a separate message", in Vilnius, Lithuania, Wednesday, May 20, 2026. (AP Photo/Mindaugas Kulbis)