Electricity costs expected to hit record this summer, new analysis finds

Cooling costs are projected to reach record highs this summer amid rising electricity prices and hotter weather. A new analysis from the National Energy Assistance Directors Association estimates that Americans will spend an average of nearly $800 on electricity between June and September, up 10.5% from the same period last year. "Electricity prices continue to rise, and hotter summers mean households need to use more electricity simply to stay safe," Mark Wolfe, executive director of NEADA, said in a statement. "The result is that Americans are paying substantially more to cool their homes than they were just a few years ago." Electricity prices are rising as energy demand grows and utilities and states invest more in updating the nation's aging power grid, including building thousands of new data centers needed to power AI services. From 2019 to 2024, the national average monthly electric bill rose about 23%, a separate analysis of federal data by nonprofit consumer education organization PowerLines. How much will you pay based on where you live? NEADA's analysis also examined how much Americans will pay from June to September, depending on where they live. The state-level estimates are based on electricity data from the Energy Information Administration and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's regional temperature forecast. …