Released July 21, 2025 | SUGAR LAND
en
Written by John Egan for Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--The U.S. utility regulatory system is being stretched. Will it break?
U.S. electric providers of all kinds -- investor-owned utilities (IOUs), public power utilities and electric cooperatives ---- plus gas utilities have incurred at least $167 billion in capital and maintenance outlays over the last five years, according to data tracked by Industrial Info. This spending has gone to new and upgraded transmission & distribution (T&D) infrastructure, new generating stations, new pipes, upgraded meters, deployment of "smart" equipment, environmental remediation, maintenance costs, system restoration after severe weather and other types outlays to meet growing customer demands.
Now, the bills are starting to come due. Well, some of them, anyway, with a lot more to come.
U.S. electric and gas utilities have asked their regulatory commissions to increase prices by about $29 billion in filings made during the first half of the year, according to a new study from PowerLines (Washington, D.C.). That's more than double the amount of price increases sought in the comparable year-earlier six-month period, it added.
PowerLines is a one-year-old advocacy nonpartisan organization working to modernize the way utilities are regulated, specifically in ways that protect consumers. The group's report, titled "Utility Bills are Rising" and released July 10, paints a difficult picture for consumers and businesses roiled by uncertainty about the economy, among other things. A growing percentage of residential customers report increased difficulty making ends meet. For many households, utility bills trail only a mortgage or rent, and food, as the largest single category of monthly outlays.
And these higher electric bills are hitting in the summer, when air conditioning use surges, driving up monthly usage and bills, PowerLines observed.
A utility's outlays for capital or maintenance purposes typically are recovered through a request to increase prices, made at the state utility regulatory commission. Several utilities in the new study PowerLines study have completed that process, but more have only begun it.
The PowerLines study actually underestimates the scope of the aggregate price increases facing customers: It only covers the nation's shareholder-owned utilities, which generate or deliver about 75% of the nation's electricity. Price increases from public power utilities and electric cooperatives are not included in the report.
"These (requested) increases are not only significant in absolute terms; they also far surpass 2024 figures," the report noted. The comparable six-month period in 2024 saw approximately $12 billion requested and approved price increases," less than half of this year's tally of approximately $29 billion in requests, the report said. Utility regulatory commissions can lower a price increase request if they find costs that were unreasonable or imprudent.
"Americans are experiencing an unprecedented utility affordability crisis," said Charles Hua, founder and executive director of PowerLines. "As high temperatures during the summer months put additional strain on the electric grid in many parts of the country, electricity system costs and utility bills will continue to spike. We must urgently address this challenge of rising utility bills."
This past March, PowerLines and Ipsos conducted a poll which found that 75% of Americans said they were concerned about utility bills rising in 2025. About 80% of those polled said they felt powerless over these costs. Two-thirds indicated that these rising utility bills were a source of financial stress. Commenting on that poll, PowerLines said, "These findings demonstrate a consistent throughline: American energy consumers are concerned about rising utility bills."
In pursuing its regulatory reform agenda, PowerLines may be able to draw on the expertise of 10 "partner" law schools, including Harvard, New York University, Michigan and the University of California Berkeley.
The July 10 report shows second-quarter 2025 requested price increases, which must be approved by state regulators, as well as rate cases that have been decided by regulators. Increases that have been approved during the second quarter alone will affect about 40 million customers across the U.S. In the second quarter, the West has the largest dollar value of approved increases, at $4.4 billion affecting an estimated 9.6 million customers. The Northeast, on the other hand, had the lowest level of increases, at $1.1 billion affecting about 3.2 million customers.
Click on the image at right to see a map of U.S. states where electric price increases have been approved in the just-concluded second quarter.
The report lists some of the largest price increases received in the April-June 2025 period, including:
U.S. electric providers of all kinds -- investor-owned utilities (IOUs), public power utilities and electric cooperatives ---- plus gas utilities have incurred at least $167 billion in capital and maintenance outlays over the last five years, according to data tracked by Industrial Info. This spending has gone to new and upgraded transmission & distribution (T&D) infrastructure, new generating stations, new pipes, upgraded meters, deployment of "smart" equipment, environmental remediation, maintenance costs, system restoration after severe weather and other types outlays to meet growing customer demands.
Now, the bills are starting to come due. Well, some of them, anyway, with a lot more to come.
U.S. electric and gas utilities have asked their regulatory commissions to increase prices by about $29 billion in filings made during the first half of the year, according to a new study from PowerLines (Washington, D.C.). That's more than double the amount of price increases sought in the comparable year-earlier six-month period, it added.
PowerLines is a one-year-old advocacy nonpartisan organization working to modernize the way utilities are regulated, specifically in ways that protect consumers. The group's report, titled "Utility Bills are Rising" and released July 10, paints a difficult picture for consumers and businesses roiled by uncertainty about the economy, among other things. A growing percentage of residential customers report increased difficulty making ends meet. For many households, utility bills trail only a mortgage or rent, and food, as the largest single category of monthly outlays.
And these higher electric bills are hitting in the summer, when air conditioning use surges, driving up monthly usage and bills, PowerLines observed.
A utility's outlays for capital or maintenance purposes typically are recovered through a request to increase prices, made at the state utility regulatory commission. Several utilities in the new study PowerLines study have completed that process, but more have only begun it.
The PowerLines study actually underestimates the scope of the aggregate price increases facing customers: It only covers the nation's shareholder-owned utilities, which generate or deliver about 75% of the nation's electricity. Price increases from public power utilities and electric cooperatives are not included in the report.
"These (requested) increases are not only significant in absolute terms; they also far surpass 2024 figures," the report noted. The comparable six-month period in 2024 saw approximately $12 billion requested and approved price increases," less than half of this year's tally of approximately $29 billion in requests, the report said. Utility regulatory commissions can lower a price increase request if they find costs that were unreasonable or imprudent.
"Americans are experiencing an unprecedented utility affordability crisis," said Charles Hua, founder and executive director of PowerLines. "As high temperatures during the summer months put additional strain on the electric grid in many parts of the country, electricity system costs and utility bills will continue to spike. We must urgently address this challenge of rising utility bills."
This past March, PowerLines and Ipsos conducted a poll which found that 75% of Americans said they were concerned about utility bills rising in 2025. About 80% of those polled said they felt powerless over these costs. Two-thirds indicated that these rising utility bills were a source of financial stress. Commenting on that poll, PowerLines said, "These findings demonstrate a consistent throughline: American energy consumers are concerned about rising utility bills."
In pursuing its regulatory reform agenda, PowerLines may be able to draw on the expertise of 10 "partner" law schools, including Harvard, New York University, Michigan and the University of California Berkeley.
The July 10 report shows second-quarter 2025 requested price increases, which must be approved by state regulators, as well as rate cases that have been decided by regulators. Increases that have been approved during the second quarter alone will affect about 40 million customers across the U.S. In the second quarter, the West has the largest dollar value of approved increases, at $4.4 billion affecting an estimated 9.6 million customers. The Northeast, on the other hand, had the lowest level of increases, at $1.1 billion affecting about 3.2 million customers.
Click on the image at right to see a map of U.S. states where electric price increases have been approved in the just-concluded second quarter.The report lists some of the largest price increases received in the April-June 2025 period, including:
- National Grid (Waltham, Massachusetts) in New York: $700 million
- Northern Indiana Public Service Company (Merrillville, Indiana): $300 million
- Pacific Gas and Electric Company (Oakland, California): $3.1 billion
- Oncor (Dallas, Texas): $800 million
- Arizona Public Service Company (Phoenix, Arizona): $600 million
- DTE Energy (Detroit, Michigan): $600 million
