TOPIC #6
THE ENERGY INDUSTRY
IN CHARTS
As discussed earlier in this Energy Industry Update, electricity affordability is increasingly a concern of customers and regulators. DOE’s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL) performed analyses of drivers of retail price trends.
The 2025 LBNL study (and related peer-reviewed paper), and its April 2026 update, contained analysis of trends in retail electricity prices, drivers of price changes from 2019 to 2025, a deep dive into impact of accelerated load growth, and early 2026 indicators.
We have included in this section two charts from that analysis.
Investor-Owned Utility Revenue Increase Request Trends
LBNL observes that investor-owned utility revenue increase requests in 2025 totaled $18 billion (see Figure 1), suggesting “continued price increases in the near term.”
Because the rate increase requests are focused on base rates and some rate riders but exclude certain other charges, the data are incomplete. However, they comprise a “directional signal” of changes in cost and hence prices.
FIGURE 1
U.S. Investor-Owned Utility Rate Change Requests ($ Billions in Increased Revenue Requirements, Inflation-Adjusted to 2025$)
Sources: Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory & The Brattle Group
National Residential Affordability Trends
Per LBNL, the charts at Figure 2 illustrate two things.
First, total residential electricity costs as a fraction of personal expenditure was 1.25% in 2025, near an all-time low—but slightly above the 2024 level.
Further, total residential electricity costs as a fraction of total income was also near an all-time low, at 1%—but largely flat in recent years and with a slight increase in 2025.
FIGURE 2
Residential Electricity Costs as a Fraction of Personal Consumption Expenditures and Personal Income
Sources: Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory & The Brattle Group