Who's raising your electric rates in 2025–26 — and why

The one thing behind most of it: the PJM capacity spike

Think of the PJM capacity market as a retainer fee. Every year the regional grid operator pays power plants to promise they'll be available on the worst-demand days, even if they sit idle otherwise. You're not paying for electricity here — you're paying to keep the plants on call. That retainer spiked, and it flows onto the supply line of bills across the 8 of our 9 states that are in PJM.

Source: PJM Interconnection — 2026/2027 Base Residual Auction results (July 2025). Generation is the biggest slice of a typical bill (~60%), delivery/distribution about a quarter, and transmission the smallest.

Why is the capacity price spiking? Data centers. See the state-by-state data:

The "PJM tax": what the increase costs each utility's customers

The capacity spike isn't abstract. Multiply each utility's monthly supply increase by its number of residential customers, and the 2025–26 increase is pulling roughly $1.98B a year out of households across just these utilities — driven largely by surging data-center demand on the grid.

Estimate: each utility's reported monthly residential supply increase × 12 × its residential customer count. Monthly increases from state commission orders (see each utility's page); customer counts from U.S. EIA-861. An aggregate across the customer base, not an individual bill. Supply is a pass-through — this is cost moved onto customers, not utility profit.

The rate changes, utility by utility

Tap any utility for the full breakdown — the exact figures, the driver, whether switching helps, and the source.

Default-supply rates (Price to Compare / Standard Service Offer / Basic Generation Service / Standard Offer Service) reset on each utility's own schedule. Figures are from state commission orders, utility filings, and PJM results; confirm the current number before relying on it. "$/mo" estimates assume a typical 700 kWh home.

Common questions

Why are electricity rates going up across so many states at once in 2025-26?

Most of it traces to one regional event: the PJM capacity auction, which sets the price the grid pays power plants to stay available. It cleared at 269.92/MW-day for 2025/26 — about 830% higher than the prior 28.92 — and even higher for 2026/27. Because 8 of the 9 states we cover are in PJM, the increase shows up almost everywhere at once, on each state's own reset schedule.

Is my utility making more money from the increase?

This lands on the supply (generation) part of your bill, which on a default/standard rate is a pass-through — your utility buys the power and bills it through with no markup. The utility's own profit lives in the separate delivery (distribution) charge, set in a rate case.

Is everyone's rate going up?

No — and that's worth knowing. Appalachian Power Virginia's rate actually went down (lower fuel costs), Ameren Illinois is on a different grid (MISO, not PJM) so the capacity spike doesn't hit it the same way, and a couple of utilities deferred the increase. We flag each honestly in the table.

Will switching electricity suppliers protect me from the increase?

Usually not. A competitive supplier buys from the same wholesale market that's driving the increase, and many switchers end up paying more after a teaser rate resets. In the states that allow shopping, compare any offer against your utility's default rate first — and never sign a variable rate.