U.S. electricity prices rise amid growing data center demand

Residential electricity prices in the United States averaged 18.31 cents per kilowatt-hour in July 2026, a 4.9% increase from the previous year. Projections suggest that data centers could account for 11.8% of national power consumption by 2030, with some models estimating a range between 9.5% and 15.3%.

Industrial operators, particularly in the Midwest and Rust Belt, are experiencing significant price spikes. Industrial electricity rates have risen 26% in Ohio and 31% in Pennsylvania year-over-year, significantly outpacing the 7% national average. In the PJM interconnection region, capacity prices rose from $28.92 per megawatt-day in 2024 to $329.17 in 2026, with over $23 billion in customer capacity cost increases through 2028 attributed primarily to data center load.

In response to these trends, companies like Microsoft and Anthropic have made commitments to cover electricity costs and grid upgrades associated with their data center operations. Meanwhile, commercial and industrial sectors are navigating these rising costs alongside shifting federal clean-energy incentives, such as the Clean Electricity Investment Credit.