US investor-owned gas and electric utilities requested a record $4.5 billion in rate increases in the third quarter, according to a PowerLines report.
Investor-owned utilities have requested $23.1 billion in electric and gas rate increases so far this year, including a record $4.5 billion filed with regulators in the third quarter, according to a Wednesday report from the advocacy group PowerLines.
"This quarter's rate increase requests reflect an ongoing rise in utility costs," said Charles Hua, founder and executive director of PowerLines, in a statement. "As rate increase requests continue to climb across the country, the question is how elected officials will respond in this crucial moment."
Energy affordability has become a key issue heading into the midterm elections next month, with voters focused on rising costs amid the spread of data centers. Nationally, the average price of residential electricity increased by around 7.3% from April 2025 to April 2026, the North Carolina Clean Energy Technology Center found.
Electricity is not the only energy affected by rising prices. Last month, the National Energy Assistance Directors Association said households that heat with electricity are projected to pay 9% more this winter than they did last year, while natural gas customers face a 5.8% increase and propane customers an 8.7% increase. Households that rely on heating oil face a 31.3% increase, it said.
Electricity rates are rising as utility investment grows to meet increasing energy demand. Last year, the Edison Electric Institute, which represents investor-owned electric utilities, said its members were projected to make capital expenditures of more than $1.1 trillion between 2025 and 2029. However, a PowerLines analysis earlier this year found that utility capital expenditures through 2030 had risen 21% to $1.4 trillion.
EEI spokesperson Dani Marx said utilities are focused on reliability and affordability.
"The investments we make, from strengthening the grid to preparing for increasingly severe weather, support that goal," Marx said in an email. "Importantly, every rate request gets rigorous review by state regulators."
The group is advocating for permitting and market reforms to bring new resources online and supports large-load tariff agreements to ensure costs are fairly allocated, according to its recent report on utility cost control efforts.
The largest rate hike identified in PowerLines' report came from FirstEnergy's Jersey Central Power & Light (JCP&L), which in July proposed a $253 million increase in base distribution rates and recovery of $476 million in previously deferred storm costs, spread over a 10-year period. The average residential customer would see a total bill increase of about 8.8%, the utility said, though the increase would not hit bills until 2028.
The utility called the proposal a "balanced approach" that invests in infrastructure while minimizing bill impacts. In a statement emailed to Utility Dive, the FirstEnergy utility said affordability and reliability "shouldn't be an either-or decision."
JCP&L's rate filing "prioritizes both simultaneously by including offsets that cover the increase in rates in 2027, keeping our customers from feeling these impacts until 2028," the utility said. "The increased frequency of severe weather has driven our deferred storm balance, but to lower the impact of that on our customers, we've proposed a separate storm recovery rider that spreads those costs out over a longer term."
Other large rate requests noted in the PowerLines report were made by Oklahoma Gas & Electric, Indiana-Michigan Power Co., Dominion Energy Virginia and CenterPoint Energy in Texas.
Collectively, utilities serving about 11 million customers in the South requested $2.2 billion, the PowerLines report said, "bringing the region to $9 billion in total rate increase requests so far in 2026."
Northeast utilities serving about 5.6 million customers requested $900 million in the third quarter, followed by $800 million in rate hikes requested by Midwest utilities serving 7.9 million customers, and $600 million in the West for utilities serving 20.8 million customers.
*Editor's note: This story has been updated to include comments from the Edison Electric Institute.*