Investor-owned utilities charge 23% more for electricity than public providers
In 2025, US homes paid 17.8 cents per kilowatt-hour at investor-owned utilities versus 14.5 cents at public ones and 14.1 cents at co-ops. Since 2020, investor-owned prices climbed 34% and public prices 19%, against 24% inflation. The gap isn't geography: within the same states, investor-owned prices rose faster in 38 of 48 states. After inflation, investor-owned prices rose 7.9% while public and co-op prices fell 4.3%.
From 2015 to 2020, prices rose 2.3% at investor-owned utilities and 3.4% at public utilities and co-ops. From 2020 to 2023, through the 2022 energy price spike, 25% against 11%. Since 2023, both rose about 7%, so the gap hasn't closed.