"Ending support for renewables and keeping fossil fuel power plants are the wrong tactics for addressing skyrocketing electricity rates"
"If your power bills are getting higher and higher, you’re not alone. That’s probably little comfort, but here’s some proof anyway: Utilities requested or were granted a total of $29 billion in rate increases in the first half of 2025, according to a study from advocacy group PowerLines. That’s more than double the total in the same period last year.
The biggest reason for these rising prices stems from the piece of the grid you can see from your window, as Heatmap reports. Utility poles and wires, also known as the distribution grid, shuttle power from high-voltage transmission infrastructure into homes and businesses. Over the last few years, building and maintaining these lines has become the biggest source of costs that utilities recoup via power bills, according to a December report from the Lawrence Berkeley National Lab.
Natural disasters are also driving up expenses as they force utilities to repair and harden their grid for future weather events. California utilities, for instance, have to rebuild after wildfires and in some cases are spending even more money to underground lines. In the Southeast, utilities routinely look to raise rates to cover post-hurricane restoration costs.
Then there’s the fact that natural gas remains the U.S.’s dominant energy source and that prices for that fuel remain higher than they were over much of the last two years."
Kathryn Krawczyk reports for Canary Media August 22, 2025.
SEE ALSO:
"Chart: Yes, US Power Prices Are Rising. Don’t Blame Clean Energy." (Canary Media)
"Electricity Prices Are Climbing More Than Twice As Fast As Inflation" (NPR)
"Why Utility Bills Are Rapidly Rising In Some States" (CBS News)
"Trump Blames Renewable Energy For Rising Electricity Prices. Experts Point Elsewhere" (AP)
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