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.

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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)

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Semiofficial news agencies in Iran published a chart Thursday suggesting the country’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard put sea mines into the Strait of Hormuz during the war, in a message that may be intended to pressure the U.S. as uncertainty hangs over a days-old two-week ceasefire and further negotiations are set to begin in Pakistan.

The charts were released by the ISNA news agency, as well as Tasnim, which is believed to be close to the Guard, and showed a large circle marked “danger zone” in Farsi over the Traffic Separation Scheme, which was the route ships used to take through the strait, the narrow mouth of the Persian Gulf through which 20% of all oil and natural gas traded once passed.

The chart suggested ships travel further north through waters closer to Iran’s mainland near Larak Island, a route that some ships were observed taking during the war.

The charts were dated from Feb. 28 until Thursday, April 9, and it was unclear if the Guard had cleared any mining on the route since then.

U.S. President Donald Trump posted a statement insisting that his surge of warships and troops will remain around Iran “until such time as the REAL AGREEMENT reached is fully complied with.”

Trump’s comments on his Truth Social platform appeared to be a way to pressure Iran.

“If for any reason it is not, which is highly unlikely, then the ‘Shootin’ Starts,’ bigger, and better, and stronger than anyone has ever seen before,” Trump wrote.

He also insisted Iran would not be able to build nuclear weapons and “the Strait of Hormuz WILL BE OPEN & SAFE.”

The U.S. and Iran both claimed victory after reaching the ceasefire agreement, and world leaders expressed relief. But more drones and missiles hit Iran and Gulf Arab countries after the deal was announced.

At the same time, Israel intensified its attacks on the Hezbollah militant group in Lebanon, hitting commercial and residential areas in Beirut. At least 182 people were killed Wednesday in the deadliest day of fighting there.

The violence threatened to scuttle what U.S. Vice President JD Vance called a “fragile” deal.

Iran's parliament speaker said Wednesday that planned talks were “unreasonable” because Washington had broken three of Tehran’s 10 conditions for an end to the fighting. In a social media post, Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf objected to Israeli attacks on Hezbollah, an alleged drone incursion into Iranian airspace after the ceasefire took effect and U.S. refusal to accept any Iranian enrichment capabilities in a final agreement.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi insisted that an end to the war in Lebanon was part of the ceasefire deal, but Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Trump said the truce did not cover Lebanon. When the deal was announced, the prime minister of Pakistan, which served as a mediator, said in a social media post that it applied to “everywhere including Lebanon and elsewhere.”

A New York-based think tank warned the ceasefire “hovers on the verge of collapse.”

The Soufan Center said Israel's strikes on Lebanon on Wednesday added to the risk the deal would fall apart.

“Even if Lebanon was formally outside the deal, the scale of Israel’s strikes was likely to be viewed as escalatory, nonetheless,” it wrote in an analysis published Thursday. “Israel’s strikes can be understood both as an effort to drive a wedge between Iran and its proxies and as a response to being allegedly sidelined in the original ceasefire discussions.”

Becatoros reported from Athens, Greece.

A rescue worker extinguishes burning cars at the site of an Israeli airstrike in central Beirut, Lebanon, Wednesday, April 8, 2026. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)

Smoke rises following several Israeli airstrikes in Beirut, Lebanon, Wednesday, April 8, 2026. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)

Ali, 4, holds a toy horse next to the tent his family uses as a shelter after fleeing Israeli bombardment in southern Lebanon, in Beirut, Lebanon, Wednesday, April 8, 2026. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti)

Government supporters gather ahead of the funeral procession for Maj. Gen. Majid Khademi, head of intelligence for Iran's paramilitary Revolutionary Guard, in Tehran, Iran, Wednesday, April 8, 2026. (AP Photo/Francisco Seco)

FILE - Two police officers walk in front of an anti-U.S. billboard depicting American aircraft being caught by Iranian armed forces in a fishing net beneath the words in Farsi, "The Strait of Hormuz will remain closed, The entire Persian Gulf is our hunting ground," in Tehran, Iran, Sunday, April 5, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi, File)