The national average price of residential electricity jumped by around 7.3% from April 2025 to April 2026, reaching 18.8 cents per kilowatt-hour and worsening an affordability crisis that's trapping a growing number of Americans, according to a report published July 7, 2026, by the North Carolina Clean Energy Technology Center. Despite more than 350 state-level actions taken this year to address the problem, the report finds energy costs continue to squeeze households across the country. As of last month, 46 states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico have taken 362 actions to address energy affordability, including utility business model reforms in New Jersey and performance-based ratemaking legislation in Indiana.
The number of U.S. households with high energy burdens — defined as spending 6% or more of income on electricity and fuel — is rising, the report finds. By different metrics and measures, the estimate of energy-burdened households in the U.S. ranges from 13% to 21%. Low-income households face a far steeper burden: they spend an average of 17.8% of their income on energy bills and transportation fuel, more than three times the national average. Recent survey results suggest that over 50% of households have seen their electricity bills increase, and 31% have experienced increases over $50 per month. A 2023 U.S. Census survey found 30% of respondents went without basic necessities to pay their energy bill.
"Affordability is at the center of nearly all energy policy discussions today," Autumn Proudlove, managing director at NCCETC, said in a June 29 statement. The center's "50 States of Energy Affordability" report concluded that "the level of energy burden is also on the rise in the U.S." and that the problems of energy burden and increasing electricity prices "are neither new nor slowing down." Nick Montoni, NCCETC senior program director, noted that "state policymakers and utilities can take immediate action to lower energy costs for customers" through measures like improving utility efficiencies, increasing oversight, or providing direct payments to customers.
The report identifies a "range of factors influencing prices, working in concert" rather than a single cause behind the increases. Large load additions from sources like data centers can raise electricity demand and require new infrastructure, though the report notes that "some evidence suggests that certain large loads in some markets can actually put downward pressure on rates." Maryland lawmakers passed legislation in April expected to lower residential electric and gas bills by at least $150 a year. A June report from the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy found most utilities "are still underinvesting in low-income programs relative to the corresponding proportion of income-qualified population in their service territories," with a 14.4% gap on average between utility investment in programming for income-limited customers and the prevalence of low-income households.
The report is designed to serve as a catalogue of proposed and approved state efforts to tackle high electricity prices, which have proven persistent despite hundreds of policy actions. While states can act immediately through efficiency improvements and direct aid programs, the report makes clear these measures haven't kept pace with the scale of the crisis. With electricity demand rising amid a national conversation about data centers and other large loads, the affordability problem shows no signs of slowing without more aggressive intervention.