More than 275 electric and natural gas utilities across 49 states and Washington, D.C. have already raised rates, been approved to raise them, or are asking regulators for permission, according to the latest tally from a nonpartisan policy research group. The increases now touch more than 116 million electricity customers and nearly 60 million natural gas customers, with several utilities citing surging demand from artificial intelligence data centers as one of the forces pushing bills higher. For a household living on a fixed income, a rate case decided by a commission in a state capital can add real dollars to next month’s bill with little warning beyond a mailed notice.
A Tracker Now Covering Nearly Every State
The Center for American Progress, working with the Natural Resources Defense Council, has tracked utility rate increases since June 2025 and updated its findings again in August 2026. The latest version of the tracker counts at least 275 electric and natural gas utilities that have implemented an increase, been approved for one, or are proposing one to take effect from January 2025 onward. Collectively, the analysts calculate that the newly enacted and proposed increases will raise electricity customers’ bills by $78.9 billion and natural gas customers’ bills by $22.5 billion by 2028. Rates have already gone up, or are proposed to go up soon, for 71 percent of electricity customers and 75 percent of natural gas customers nationwide, according to the tracker.
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A Number That Keeps Climbing Every Few Months
The tracker has grown almost every time the Center for American Progress has updated it. In February 2026, the count stood at more than 112 million electric customers and $92 billion in newly enacted and proposed revenue; by March, that had edged up to roughly 111.5 million customers and nearly $93 billion; by May, it reached 111.9 million customers and $95.3 billion. The August 2026 update pushed the total past 116 million electric customers and past $101 billion in combined electricity and natural gas revenue increases, a reminder that the tracker reflects an ongoing stream of new rate filings rather than a single fixed snapshot from early 2025.
Why Data Centers Keep Showing Up in Rate Filings
Utilities point to several forces driving the increases, and growing electricity demand from artificial intelligence data centers is one of the newer ones layered on top of older pressures. The tracker’s authors also cite delayed maintenance on an aging power grid, the rising cost of modernizing it, and extreme weather events that have become both more frequent and more expensive to recover from. At the same time, spikes in wholesale natural gas prices and federal policy changes affecting new clean energy generation are adding upward pressure of their own, according to a companion analysis from the same research team that examined why the size of the increases varies so much by region. Because data centers draw enormous, steady loads around the clock, utilities in states with heavy data center construction have cited that demand specifically in some of their rate filings as a reason new transmission and generation investment is needed.
Extreme Heat Is Adding to the Strain
As rates climb, households also need more electricity just to stay cool. June 2026 was the second-warmest June on record globally, and much of the country endured a heat dome this summer with temperatures well into the 110s across parts of the West. According to a National Energy Assistance Directors Association analysis cited in the tracker, summer cooling costs have climbed roughly 40 percent since 2020, and nearly 40 percent of households earning less than $50,000 a year report difficulty paying an electric bill at least once in the past year. Rising rates and rising usage are landing on many of the same households at the same time, which is part of why the tracker’s authors flag extreme heat as a public-health issue as much as a financial one.
How a Rate Case Actually Moves Through a State Commission
Each increase in the tracker traces back to a filing with a state public utilities commission, which reviews a utility’s request for additional revenue and can approve it in full, reduce it, or reject it outright. Commissions often suspend a requested effective date for six to twelve months while they review a case, so the tracker’s authors caution that some of their totals reflect a utility’s original request rather than a commission’s final, lower-than-requested decision. Reporting requirements also differ by state: some commissions require utilities to disclose the exact dollar impact on a typical residential bill, while others do not, which is why the tracker’s authors note gaps in the data for certain utilities even as they continue adding new filings.
Some Households Are Seeing Far Bigger Jumps
The nationwide averages mask wide differences from state to state. The tracker’s authors found that residents of Arkansas, New York, and Massachusetts, among others, could see increases of $40 a month or more once a case is fully phased in — a bigger strain for a household already trying to keep a heating or cooling bill inside a fixed monthly budget. The Center for American Progress says it intends to keep updating the tracker as new rate cases are filed and decided around the country, and it is soliciting reports directly from households whose bills have gone up in ways the current tracker does not yet reflect.
The Programs No One Signs You Up For
Separately, a rising utility bill is only one of the costs that catch older households off guard. Programs such as SNAP food benefits for people 60 and older, circuit-breaker property-tax credits, and Medicare Savings Programs exist to offset exactly this kind of squeeze, but none of them enroll a household automatically — each one requires someone to apply.
The Benefits Checklist lays out all 11 covered programs along with the 2026 income limits and a 50-state phone directory for finding the right office.
See the full program list in The Benefits Checklist.
This article was written with the assistance of AI and reviewed for accuracy before publication.
Warren Cohen is a finance writer based in Phoenix, Arizona, covering personal finance topics including credit, banking, and beginner investing. He earned his degree in business administration from Arizona State University and began his career working in consumer finance, where he gained direct experience with lending and credit systems. He now writes for personal finance websites and fintech platforms, focusing on clear, practical content that helps readers make informed financial decisions.
