Why Are Electric Bills Going Up? What the Data Says for 2026

Short answer: your bill is the kWh you use times the price of each one, and the price has been climbing. The average US home paid 18.2¢ per kWh from January to August 2026, up from 17.0¢ in the same months of 2025, about 7% more. In 2016 it was 12.6¢ (EIA, Table 5.3). The EIA points to higher wholesale power prices after winter storm Fern and a hot summer; your price also covers transmission and distribution upgrades and, in some regions, capacity auctions. If your bill jumped in a single month, the usual suspects are the weather, a rate change or a longer billing period. Here’s how to tell which one it was.

How much electricity prices have gone up

The US average residential price, from the EIA’s Electric Power Monthly (not adjusted for inflation):

Year	Average residential price
2016	12.6¢ per kWh
2020	13.2¢
2022	15.0¢
2023	16.0¢
2024	16.5¢
2025	17.2¢
2026, January to August	18.2¢ (17.0¢ in the same months of 2025)

The 2025 average was 37% above 2016’s. 2026’s figures are preliminary, and a January-to-August average includes the summer months, when prices are usually highest, the EIA says (Electricity explained).

The EIA’s October forecast puts the residential average at 18.2¢ for all of 2026 and 18.7¢ in 2027, a smaller increase than this year’s (Short-Term Energy Outlook).

Why electricity prices are rising

Electricity prices reflect the cost to build, finance, maintain and run power plants and the grid, and some for-profit utilities also include a return for their owners and shareholders, the EIA explains. Each of these can push your price up:

• Fuel. Fuel prices, especially natural gas and, in Hawaii and some Alaska villages, petroleum, can rise when demand is high or supply is disrupted, and that raises the cost of generating power. Generation is the largest part of the price of electricity.
• Power plants and the grid. Plants, transmission lines and local distribution lines all have construction, operating and maintenance costs, including repairs after storms and accidents and cybersecurity.
• Weather. Extreme heat or cold raises demand for cooling and heating, which can raise fuel and electricity prices. Droughts or calm winds cut low-cost hydropower and wind generation, which can push prices up too.
• Regulation. In some states, the utility commission fully regulates prices. Others combine unregulated generation prices with regulated prices for transmission and distribution.

In 2026, the EIA expects wholesale prices across the 11 hubs it tracks to average $52 per megawatthour, 11% more than in 2025. Some regions paid more mainly because of weather events such as winter storm Fern and the hot summer, particularly July. The biggest expected increase is in the PJM region, 41%. Wholesale prices are only one part of what you pay, though: residential prices also cover transmission and distribution upgrades and, in some regions, capacity market auction prices, the EIA notes in its October outlook.

Where prices rose most in 2026

Prices rose in 48 of the 50 states and the District of Columbia from January to August 2026, compared with the same months of 2025 (Table 5.6.B). These are the biggest increases:

State	Jan–Aug 2025	Jan–Aug 2026	Change
District of Columbia	21.2¢	24.9¢	+17%
New Hampshire	23.4¢	26.9¢	+15%
Hawaii	40.5¢	46.4¢	+15%
Ohio	16.6¢	18.8¢	+13%
Virginia	15.0¢	17.0¢	+13%
Maryland	18.9¢	21.3¢	+13%
New York	26.1¢	29.3¢	+12%
Pennsylvania	18.9¢	21.1¢	+12%
United States	17.0¢	18.2¢	+7%

Only Connecticut (down 9%, to 27.5¢), Rhode Island and Massachusetts paid less, and those two by less than 1%. Our average electric bill by state has every state’s price and typical monthly bill.

Why is my electric bill so high this month?

A one-month jump usually has one of three causes. Your bill shows the kWh you used and the price, so compare both with the same month last year and with last month:

• You used more kWh. Heat waves and cold snaps raise demand for cooling and heating, the EIA says. This year’s hot summer is a clear example: the EIA estimates households used 6% more electricity from July to September 2026 than in the same months of 2025. A new appliance, a space heater or more people at home also show up here.
• You paid more per kWh. Most customers pay rates based on the seasonal cost of electricity, which usually peaks in summer, according to the EIA. Your utility may also have changed its rates. If the price per kWh changed, your utility can tell you why.
• The bill covered more days. Bills don’t all cover the same number of days: the EIA’s sales data, for example, comes from bills covering 28 to 35 days (Table 5.3 notes). A few extra days in a hot or cold month add up.

If none of these explains it, ask your utility to check the bill.

What you can control

You can’t change the price your utility charges, but you can change how many kWh you buy:

• Use less where it counts. Start with cooling, heating and hot water. Our guide to how to lower your electric bill ranks the changes that save the most, for apartments and houses.
• Ask about other rates. Some utilities offer time-of-day pricing to reduce peak demand, which usually comes in the afternoon and early evening, the EIA notes. Whether it pays depends on when you use power.
• Make some of your own. Plug-in solar doesn’t cut use; it replaces some of the kWh you’d buy, so it’s worth more where prices are high. An 800 W kit facing south with no shade saves roughly $70 to $490 a year depending on your state, your sun and how you mount it, as our math by state shows. Check your state’s law and your utility first, and your lease or HOA rules.

How we got these numbers

Prices are the EIA’s US and state averages for the residential sector: annual figures from Electric Power Monthly Table 5.3 (2025 and earlier are final, 2026 is preliminary) and January-to-August figures from Table 5.6.B. Changes are our calculations from the unrounded figures; the 37% compares 2025 (17.23¢) with 2016 (12.55¢), before inflation. The forecasts, wholesale prices and third-quarter consumption come from the EIA’s Short-Term Energy Outlook released October 6, 2026. Data checked November 1, 2026.