Democrats on the Joint Economic Committee (JEC) compiled federal data on residential electricity prices and consumption to calculate average bills in each state in 2024 and 2025. On average, Americans paid almost 7 percent more to power their homes last year.
In New Jersey, Indiana and Illinois prices went up 15 percent or more. In three Western states that have made renewable generation a priority — California, Arizona and Nevada — prices went down. Electricity costs less in California than in 18 other states, including Florida, Texas, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia and Tennessee. (See map.)
The JEC didn’t evaluate the relationships between cost and renewable generation, but it’s worth noting that Nevada, where prices went down the most (-18 percent), has cheaper electricity than almost any other state.
Senate Democrats hosted a roundtable on March 17 to discuss the relationship between rising prices, data centers and clean energy. Sen. Chris Van Hollen of Maryland put forward a Power for the People Act that would help federal and state regulators get data centers to cover added costs from their energy consumption.
The war in Iran adds a wild card to the mix. Rising crude oil prices affect the cost of transportation and manufacturing pieces of electricity infrastructure. Given the uncertainties around the conflict, it’s not possible to predict how utilities and electricity bills might eventually be affected.
