U.S. consumers may see their energy bills continue to rise, following a surge in demand for power over the next 18 months.
According to a new report from the Energy Information Administration, the demand is largely fueled by data centers – some of which power online use of AI.
The EIA’s Short-Term Energy Outlook, released Tuesday, forecasts an increase in U.S. annual electricity consumption in both 2025 and 2026, which will surpass the all-time high reached in 2024.
“We expect electricity sales to the commercial sector to rise by 3.0 percent in 2025 and 4.5 percent in 2026, driven largely by more demand from data centers,” the EIA forecast states.
Electricity sales to industrial consumers, meanwhile, will rise by 2.0 percent in 2025 and 3.5 percent in 2026.
The surges are likely to mean continuing increases in electricity bills across the country.
The EIA analysis predicted that retail electricity prices for households will increase by 4 percent in 2025 when compared to 2024.
However, the report also notes that this is not unusual, as prices have increased by about 5 percent on average each year since the pandemic.
According to previous reports by the EIA, U.S. consumers spent an average of about $1,760 on electricity expenditures in 2023, with an increase of around 13 percent possible by 2026.
At the time, the EIA noted that forecasts for retail electricity price increases differ across the country, with residential electricity prices in the Pacific, Middle Atlantic, and New England census divisions—regions where consumers already pay much more per kilowatt-hour for electricity— would likely increase more than the national average.
By comparison, residential electricity prices in areas with relatively low electricity prices may not increase as much, the administration said.
The figures are in contrast to previous energy use, which, according to the administration, was “essentially flat for nearly two decades.”
