Utilities requested $9.2B in rate hikes in Q2: PowerLines

Electric and gas utilities asked state regulators for $9.2 billion in rate increases in the second quarter of this year, up 26% from the same period last year, according to the advocacy group PowerLines. For the first half of the year, requests totaled $18.6 billion, actually down from about $25 billion a year earlier. Big requests included Dominion Energy in Virginia (about $1.5 billion across three filings), Oncor in Texas ($1.2 billion, driven partly by demand from oil and gas operations and data centers), We Energies in Wisconsin ($606 million), and DTE Energy and Consumers Energy in Michigan ($474 million and $456 million). Eversource's Connecticut subsidiary is preparing a $503 million request that could raise residential rates there by about 13%.

This comes as U.S. residential electric rates already climbed 7.3% over the past year, averaging 18.8 cents per kilowatt-hour in April. Rates vary widely by state, from 12.4 cents in North Dakota to 46.6 cents in Hawaii, with California, Connecticut, Massachusetts and New York also among the priciest. By region, proposed increases average $193 per customer in the Midwest, $172 in the South, $135 in the Northeast, and $110 in the West.

Regulators don't usually approve the full amount utilities ask for — they approved 58% of requested costs from 2023 through 2024 — but some increase typically does reach customer bills. For homeowners, this is a reminder that utility rates in many states are trending upward, which can affect the payback math on efficiency upgrades like insulation, air sealing, or a heat pump.