From the the Berkeley Lab:
Abstract
Low-cost electricity has long afforded the United States with a competitive economic advantage. In recent years, however, retail electricity prices have risen rapidly in nominal terms. Though this increase in national-average retail electricity prices has largely tracked inflation, some states experienced steep price increases exceeding inflation, whereas many others saw reductions in inflation-adjusted prices. Research at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory seeks to better understand recent retail electricity pricing trends and the myriad drivers of changes in state-level prices--including distribution investments, extreme weather and wildfires, load growth, wind and solar deployment, natural gas dependence, and more. The relative influence of these factors varies across states and over time, and relationships may change in the future. Nonetheless, the research findings described in the documents linked below underscore the diverse set of price determinants and highlight the need for continued research to inform effective policy and ensure customer affordability....
....MUCH MORE
Available via ScienceDirect (open access):
The Electricity Journal
Volume 38, Issue 4, December 2025, 107516Factors influencing recent trends in retail electricity prices in the United States
Highlights
•Recent state-level trends in retail electricity prices vary widely in the United States.
•States with the greatest price decreases typically exhibited increasing customer loads.
•Wildfires, storms, and natural gas exposure contributed to price increases and fluctuations.
•Behind-the-meter solar and renewables portfolio standards (RPS) increased prices.
•The recent utility-scale wind and solar that occurred outside RPS did not increase prices.
More tomorrow.
