The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research (the AP-NORC Center) is a survey research center established by the Associated Press, an independent global news organization founded in 1846, and NORC at the University of Chicago, a social science research institution. The two organizations describe its purpose as conducting, analyzing and distributing social science research "in the public interest on newsworthy topics" and using journalism "to tell the stories that research reveals." In a 2026 description it reported having conducted more than 250 studies in its first ten years, on subjects including health care, the economy, COVID-19 and trust in media. Its director in 2026 was Jennifer Benz (AP-NORC/EPIC 2026 Energy Survey: AI, Data Centers, Climate and Energy).
Methods
The center's surveys draw on AmeriSpeak, NORC's probability-based panel designed to represent the U.S. household population, which recruits households with a known probability of selection from the NORC National Sample Frame and covers approximately 97% of that population. Some surveys supplement the panel with non-probability samples; the 2026 energy survey combined 1,430 AmeriSpeak respondents with 1,994 respondents supplied by Forthright and combined the two using TrueNorth, a calibration method developed at NORC that adjusts the weights of the non-probability sample. The combined sample carried a margin of error of ±2.2 percentage points including the design effect (AP-NORC/EPIC 2026 Energy Survey: AI, Data Centers, Climate and Energy). The design differs from the probability-only panels used by Gallup and the Pew Research Center for their AI surveys (American AI Sentiment in 2026 (Gallup and SCSP); Americans and AI 2026: Chatbots, Smart Devices and Views on Impact).
AP-NORC/EPIC energy survey
With funding from the Energy Policy Institute at the University of Chicago, the center conducts an annual energy and climate survey whose trend items on climate beliefs, energy policy, carbon fees and electric vehicles run back to 2016. The edition released on September 16, 2026, fielded July 6–24 among 3,424 adults, found 53% of Americans extremely or very concerned about the environmental impacts of AI, up from 41% in 2025, 63% extremely or very concerned about data centers' effect on local electricity prices, and 73% supporting a requirement that companies building data centers pay for the grid upgrades needed to support them, including 79% of Democrats and 76% of Republicans (AP-NORC/EPIC 2026 Energy Survey: AI, Data Centers, Climate and Energy). The Associated Press reported the poll as showing an issue on which Republicans and Democrats are unified before the 2026 midterm elections (Source: ap.org).
Relationships
- supports: AP-NORC/EPIC 2026 Energy Survey: AI, Data Centers, Climate and Energy — producer of the 2026 energy survey.
- related: Energy Policy Institute at the University of Chicago (EPIC) — funder and collaborator on the energy survey series.
- related: Public Opinion on AI, Data Center Siting / AI Power Politics, AI Environmental Impact — topics its 2026 survey measured.
- related: Pew Research Center, Gallup, Annenberg Public Policy Center — other producers of recurring U.S. AI-attitude surveys.