U.S. retail electricity prices rose 7% in 2025 alone, part of a nearly 40% climb since 2021, as utilities requested $31 billion in rate hikes for the full year — more than double the $15 billion sought in 2024.

Retail electricity prices rose 7% in 2025 alone, part of a nearly 40% climb since 2021. In the first three months of 2026 alone, utility companies requested state commissions to approve rate increases worth $9.4 billion. Nearly half of the 2025 rate increase requests had not yet been approved as of early 2026, meaning a significant wave of increases is still working its way to consumers' bills.

Data centers have a localized impact on electricity costs: in Virginia, an epicenter of the data center boom, power company Dominion Energy requested approval for $70 million in further revenues to construct and operate a 3-gigawatt natural gas plant and related transmission infrastructure. In neighborhoods located near data centers, electric bills have risen as much as 267%, according to a Bloomberg analysis.

Multiple forces beyond data centers are driving price increases, including extreme weather damage (wildfires in the West, Hurricane Helene in the South), and a utility spending spree. Investor-owned utilities have raised capital spending plans through 2030 by 27% over the past year, now reaching $1.4 trillion. Between 2021 and 2024, collective profits at 110 publicly listed utility companies rose from $38.8 billion to $52.5 billion.