Retail Electricity Price and Cost Trends: 2024 Update

U.S. average retail electricity prices increased 4.8% per year from 2019 to 2023 on a nominal basis and some state average retail electricity prices increased more than 8.0% per year. Taking inflation into account, U.S. average retail electricity prices were mostly flat between 2019 and 2023, though have been rising faster than inflation since 2021. Most categories of utility costs increased from 2019 to 2023 and especially for distribution CapEx that grew by 50%, more than double the rate of inflation. Retail electricity sales remained nearly flat from 2019 to 2023 and was not a major driver of cost-growth in recent years at the national level, though some states and utilities experienced significant load growth due to new data centers and industrial facilities. Customer investments in behind the meter resources grew and had varying impacts on retail electricity sales; there was significant growth in EV electricity load impacts since 2021. There are several important data gaps that limit more precise estimates of electrification, including state and utility heat pump sales and data on the installed heat pump and replacement building technologies.