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A group of Maine residents protest a proposed electricity price increase ahead of an October public hearing in Freeport. Rising utility prices are increasingly drawing scrutiny from state regulators and lawmakers (AnnMarie Hilton\/Maine Morning Star).<\/p>\n
The last time the Maine Public Utilities Commission considered an electricity price hike, the proposal received fewer than 90 comments from the public.<\/p>\n
Three years later, amid skyrocketing energy prices, more than 800 people weighed in on the plan, showing up to public hearings and even protesting outside.<\/p>\n
The commission last month ultimately rejected<\/a> the proposal that would have raised bills by about $35 per month for customers of Central Maine Power, the state\u2019s largest electricity provider. In explaining the denial, Commission Chair Philip Bartlett cited growing energy costs.<\/p>\n \u201cThere\u2019s no question that affordability is increasingly an issue, not just with respect to electricity prices, but across the entire economy,\u201d Bartlett told Stateline. \u201cAnd people are feeling enormous pressure.\u201d<\/p>\n Rising utility prices are increasingly drawing scrutiny from state regulators and lawmakers nationwide. Given the public outcry, many state leaders are considering rate freezes, additional energy assistance funds or new rates targeting large energy users such as data centers. But states only have so much control; regulators say they can\u2019t change the fundamental market dynamics that will likely continue to push prices up.<\/p>\n Between January and September of this year, average home electricity rates increased 11.7% \u2014 more than triple the rate of inflation, according to the National Energy Assistance Directors Association, which represents state employees administering federal energy assistance programs. Average electric bills increased nearly 30% between 2021 and 2025, climbing from $121 to $156 per month.<\/p>\n Many low-income households have long struggled to cover utility bills. Now, advocates say, high prices are affecting a growing swath of the middle class.<\/p>\n Utility prices played a major role in recent Democratic gubernatorial wins in New Jersey and Virginia. And in Georgia, Democrats flipped two seats on the board that regulates public utilities \u2014\u00a0 the first time Democrats won statewide constitutional office in nearly two decades.<\/p>\n Most consumers get their electricity from utilities that must seek state consent for rate changes, with appointed or elected state boards approving price structures.<\/p>\n In Washington state, Ann Rendahl, one of three members of the Washington Utilities and Transportation Commission, said state utility regulators always consider affordability when making rate decisions. Now those deliberations have attracted much more public and political scrutiny.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re hearing from more and more people,\u201d she said. \u201cI think it\u2019s becoming more of a concern politically as well as legislatures and governors hear about this.\u201d<\/p>\n Prices have been affected by a multitude of factors: Russia\u2019s war in Ukraine, which has disrupted global oil and gas supplies; extreme weather events; and rising demand driven by the artificial intelligence boom and energy-intensive data centers have all played a role.<\/p>\n Major utility providers say they are focused on keeping electricity affordable and reliable. They point to massive upgrades to the grid as a primary driver of rising prices.<\/p>\n While state attention on the issue is growing, experts see no immediate relief in sight for consumers.<\/p>\n In Maine, a separate rate increase request will likely come before regulators soon. And the Maine Public Utilities Commission recently approved a\u00a0supply price increase<\/a>\u00a0estimated to raise customer bills by $13 to $17 a month.<\/p>\n In Florida, regulators just approved a $6.9 billion<\/a> rate increase for the state\u2019s largest utility, which opponents said was the largest hike in state history. The typical bill will rise by $2.50 per month to $136.64 next year. But because of other recent rate increases, the average customer will pay hundreds of dollars more each year than they did in 2021, when the typical monthly bill was $101.70, The Associated Press reported<\/a>.<\/p>\n Amid rising demand, the consultant firm ICF predicts<\/a> U.S. residential customers could see electricity rates increase 15% to 40% by 2030, with some rates doubling by 2050.<\/p>\n \u201cLike everything else, I think [utility] costs are not going down,\u201d said Rendahl, who is also president of the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners, which represents state public service commissioners.<\/p>\n While running her successful campaign for governor of New Jersey, Democrat Mikie Sherrill, then a U.S. House member, pledged she would declare a state of emergency <\/a>on her first day to freeze utility rates.<\/p>\n \u201cMy priority is relief to New Jersey consumers, and I will bring everyone to the table to deliver it,\u201d she said in September. Sherrill takes office in January, but many experts question<\/a> how much she can do to lower prices.<\/p>\n Regulators there had already issued $100 utility bill credits to provide relief for all customers, the New Jersey Monitor reported<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cThis should be helpful for people, but in no way solves the problem,\u201d Zenon Christodoulou, a member of the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities, said in August.<\/p>\n President Donald Trump has dismissed broader affordability concerns as \u201ca con job<\/a>\u201d by Democrats. But Republican state officials have underscored the growing strain of electric bills.<\/p>\n Gov. Kotek orders state agencies to move faster on clean energy projects, electrification<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n Months before Democrats in Georgia attracted national attention for winning election to the utility board, GOP lawmakers there were raising concerns<\/a> about the growing data center industry and had proposed legislation to protect ratepayers.<\/p>\n In September, Indiana Republican Gov. Mike Braun directed his newly appointed consumer advocate to dive into rising electricity bills, specifically targeting utility profits. The governor said utility investors, not ratepayers, should bear more of the pain of rising prices.<\/p>\n \u201cWe can\u2019t take it anymore,\u201d Braun said in a news release.<\/p>\n In justifying rising prices, utility companies have pointed to a wave of massive investments in the electric grid. Utilities are on track to spend $208 billion<\/a> this year, according to the Edison Electric Institute, which represents the nation\u2019s investor-owned electric utilities.<\/p>\n Members of that group, which provide power to 250 million Americans, are projected to make capital expenditures of more than $1.1 trillion between 2025 and 2029.<\/p>\n Drew Maloney, president and CEO of the institute, told Stateline in a statement that the nation\u2019s electric companies are focused on keeping electricity as \u201creliable and as affordable as possible\u201d by \u201cmaking essential investments to lower costs and protect America\u2019s most important machine\u2014the U.S. electric grid.\u201d<\/p>\n But utility companies have \u201cperverse incentives\u201d to drive up capital expenses, said David Pomerantz, executive director of the nonprofit Energy and Policy Institute, a watchdog group tracking fossil fuel and utility industries.<\/p>\n What they’re allowed to charge customers is usually set by a group of three or five people.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u2013 David Pomerantz, executive director of the nonprofit Energy and Policy Institute<\/b><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n Utilities are ensured a certain return on their capital investments, which he said can push them to spend heavily on projects that provide questionable benefits. State commissions set a rate of return for energy projects aimed at ensuring utilities can attract investors. That gives states an enormous amount of influence over prices, Pomerantz said.<\/p>\n \u201cAt the risk of sounding a little flip about this, it\u2019s actually a lot easier for utilities than it is for, say, grocery prices,\u201d he said. \u201cWhat they\u2019re allowed to charge customers is usually set by a group of three or five people.\u201d<\/p>\n While politicians increasingly acknowledge the strain of rising utility costs, Pomerantz said it\u2019s unclear whether state leaders will actually lower utility profits to provide relief for customers.<\/p>\n \u201cDemocrats and Republicans suddenly realize they have a crisis on their hands, and so the rhetoric has changed a lot in just the last few months,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s good rhetoric, but is anything different going to happen?\u201d<\/p>\n As bills have increased, many residents have fallen behind.<\/p>\n An analysis<\/a> of consumer credit data from the left-leaning groups Century Foundation and Protect Borrowers found about 1 in 20 households \u2014 some 14 million Americans \u2014 had utility bills at least 90 days past due in June.<\/p>\n Between March 2022 and June 2025, the report found average overdue balances climbed from $597 to $789.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s a real source of financial anxiety for working people who are trying to figure out how to stay warm in Wisconsin or not die from heat stroke in Arizona,\u201d said Mike Pierce, executive director of Protect Borrowers, an organization originally founded to advocate for student loan borrowers.<\/p>\n Pierce said the growing utility debt speaks to wider financial concerns across the country, as overall household debt<\/a> balloons.<\/p>\n \u201cOur theory of the case here is that Americans are struggling, which is the same thing Americans will tell you when you talk to them,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n The federal Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program, commonly known as LIHEAP, has faced multiple threats from the Trump administration, which sought to eliminate its funding, fired top agency staff and withheld pledged funds. But amid rising political pressure, the federal government did release those funds last month.<\/p>\n While that\u2019s good news for many households, the buying power of the program has significantly decreased because of rising energy prices, said Mark Wolfe, an energy economist and executive director of the National Energy Assistance Directors Association, which represents state LIHEAP directors.<\/p>\n Many liberal-led states have their own supplementary energy assistance programs, Wolfe noted. Lawmakers in some states have sought to boost those programs. Oregon, for instance, this year doubled<\/a> its assistance fund from $20 to $40 million.<\/p>\n \u201cIt happened pretty quickly,\u201d Wolfe said of the rising prices. \u201cSo it\u2019s not just poor families who are struggling to pay their electric bill.\u201d<\/p>\n Stateline reporter Kevin Hardy can be reached at <\/em>khardy@stateline.org<\/em><\/a>.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n\u2018We can\u2019t take it anymore\u2019<\/h4>\n
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Infrastructure updates increase costs<\/h4>\n
\n<\/div>\n\n\nMore households struggle with bills<\/h4>\n