Electricity rates by state

July 6, 2025

In March 2025, the average residential rate for electricity across the nation was 17.11 cents per kilowatt-hour. However, households in different regions paid different rates: Idaho residents paid an average of 11.56 cents/kWh, while those in Connecticut paid 32.55 cents/kWh—nearly three times as much. The retail rate reflects the cost of generation, transmission, and distribution, each of which is impacted by different factors. For example, California’s wildfire mitigation and grid hardening efforts raise the costs of transmission and distribution. In states with higher wages, taxes, or clean energy standards, utilities may charge higher rates to cover related costs as well. Data source: EIA.

Tech’s nuclear power plays

June 29, 2025

Tech giants have a growing hunger for electricity to power their AI and cloud computing data centers. At the same time, Google, Microsoft, and Meta aim to achieve net zero emissions by 2030. To secure one source of continuous, carbon-free power, they have made large deals with nuclear energy companies. With multi-decade agreements, tech companies have revitalized economically troubled plants such as Three Mile Island. They have also invested billions of dollars into small modular reactors (SMRs), a new generation of fission reactors with the potential to be cheaper and easier to build. Most SMRs however are not expected to come online for another decade. If executed, these eight projects above will total to over 15,000 MW, enough power for roughly 12 million homes yet only a fraction of forecasted data center demand in the coming decades. Data sources: Company press releases.

Global surface temperature

June 22, 2025

The past ten years have been the ten hottest years on record. In 2024, the average global surface temperature was 2.79 °F (1.55 °C) above pre-industrial levels (1850-1900). Over the past decade, greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide, methane, and nitrous oxide have reached concentrations in the atmosphere unmatched in hundreds of thousands of years, trapping in heat. Data source: 2 Degrees Institute. (Temperatures before 1880 are estimated using ice cores and ocean sediments.)

Swapping out coal for natural gas

June 15, 2025

In 2004, the U.S. generated 53% of its electricity from coal-fired power plants and 19% from natural gas plants. In 2024, coal’s share of production has dropped to 15% while the share from natural gas has risen to 43%. Since the start of the “shale revolution” in the early 2000s, natural gas has fallen in price and forced coal plants to close largely for economic reasons. In addition to using cheaper fuel, natural gas plants are more flexible and emit less CO2 than coal plants. Lower gas prices have limited the growth of nuclear energy as well and forced some reactors to close. Of any technology, wind and solar have grown the most over the past two decades, rising in their share of electricity production from less than 1% to over 17%. Data source: EIA.

Solar growth and curtailment in the Golden State

June 8, 2025

California continues to rapidly grow its utility-scale solar capacity. Total solar generation in the state increased by 47% from 2021 to 2024. Sometimes during the day, solar production exceeds the amount that the current transmission system can support, requiring the grid operator to shut off some of the supply. Most of this curtailment occurs during the spring, when there is ample sun but lower demand due to moderate temperatures. In March 2025, for example, the California ISO shut off 18% of total solar generation for the month. To reduce curtailment, California is expanding its transmission infrastructure and promoting additional flexible resources such as batteries. Data source: CAISO via Grid Status.

Electric vehicle adoption around the world

June 1, 2025

Global electric vehicle sales continue to grow, with more than one EV for every five cars sold in 2024. Last year, EVs accounted for 10% of car sales in the United States, 22% in Europe, and 48% in China. Norway leads the world in EV adoption, with 89% of all new cars being fully battery powered. The Scandinavian country has significant government incentives for EVs and has built an extensive charging network. Domestically, Norway is moving towards its climate goals, with an electricity grid powered by 97% renewables. However, oil and gas account for two-thirds of the country’s exports. Data source: IEA.

Mapping battery storage buildout

May 25, 2025

Over the past five years, utility-scale lithium-ion battery capacity in the U.S. has grown from 1.0 GW in January 2020 to 28.5 GW in March 2025. By the end of 2025, an additional 18.2 GW is planned to come online, as shown in orange. California leads the charge with 12.1 GW installed, followed by Texas with 7.9 GW and Arizona with 2.5 GW. Together, these three states account for 79% of the nation's battery capacity. Each battery can supply its maximum power for a set duration, which typically falls between 1 and 4 hours. Data source: EIA.

A new era of electricity demand growth

May 18, 2025

Grid operators across the country expect an increase in annual peak demand, the highest electricity load over any hour in a given year, for the first time in two decades. The electrification of industries, homes, and transportation as well as new data centers are driving up forecasts of demand. Texas, with a growing economy and population, expects peak load to rise from 85 GW in 2024 to 154 GW in 2035, an 80% increase. In the Mid-Atlantic region, PJM, the operator of the nation's largest grid, anticipates a 38% rise in peak power demand this decade, from 151 GW to 209 GW. The New England system operator expects winter peak demand in the region to grow from 20 GW to 28 GW by 2035, largely due to the electrification of heating and transportation. Data sources: ERCOT, PJM, and ISO-NE.

E.U. continues to cut flows of Russian gas

May 11, 2025

In the three years since the start of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, countries in the European Union have reduced their combined imports of Russian natural gas by 75%. The decrease has been partially offset by a tripling in U.S. liquefied natural gas imports since the start of 2022. Overall gas imports to Europe have fallen 19% in this three-year period. This decline is in part due to a reduction in consumption by industries in response to record high prices as well as a continued shift to renewables and energy efficiency. On May 5, 2025, the European Commission shared plans to stop all imports of Russian gas by the end of 2027. Data source: Bruegel.

California's changing resource mix

May 4, 2025

Snapshots of California's generation mix on May 1, 2020 and May 1, 2025. Over the past five years, solar has expanded its share, while electricity imports from other western states have declined. Batteries, shown in purple, have become a significant part of the mix in recent years. At 8 pm on May 1, 2025, for example, batteries were supplying 34% of the state's electricity. Data source: California ISO via Grid Status.