Washington, D.C. — The number of Americans facing higher electric and natural gas costs has gone up again, according to an updated analysis and tracker from the Center for American Progress and the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC).
About 66 percent of electric utility customers and 62 percent of natural gas customers across the country are seeing rate increases, up from 65 percent of electric and 59 percent of gas customers compared to the October version of the tracker.
Overall, the tracker shows that these increases will affect more than 108 million electricity customers and nearly 49 million natural gas customers across 49 states and Washington, D.C. The increased costs will total nearly $85.8 billion by 2028.
These higher rates are being driven by several factors, including the Trump administration’s policy assault on new clean energy generation, the need to modernize an aging electric grid, and growing demand from artificial intelligence data centers.
Federal data shows that households are paying 9.6 percent more for their electric bills on average in 2025 than in 2024, outpacing both wage growth and overall inflation.
Some residents of Arkansas, Missouri, and Massachusetts could see increases of more than $30 per month, putting strain on families that may already find it difficult to pay their bills.
Read the analysis: “Electric and Natural Gas Utility Rate Hikes Tracker” by Akshay Thyagarajan, Jamie Friedman, and Amanda Levin
For more information, or to speak with an expert, please contact Sam Hananel at [email protected].