US Residential Power Prices Hit 18.8 Cents per Kilowatt-Hour as Affordability Gap Widens
Low-income US households spend more than three times the national average share of income on energy costs, a new state-by-state report finds.
The national average price of residential electricity climbed to 18.8 cents per kilowatt-hour in April 2026, up 7.3% from a year earlier, according to a report released on Tuesday (2026-07-07) by the North Carolina Clean Energy Technology Center. The increase is compounding financial stress on millions of households already stretched thin.3
For low-income Americans the pressure is acute. Households in the lowest income brackets spend an average of 17.8% of their income on energy bills and transportation fuel, the NCCET's "50 States of Energy Affordability" report found — more than three times the national average. More than 50% of US households said their bills had risen, and 31% reported increases of more than $50 per month, according to survey data cited in the report.3
The social cost is traceable. A 2023 U.S. Census survey found 30% of respondents had foregone basic necessities — food or medicine — to pay their energy bill.3
Utility programmes meant to reach the most exposed customers remain underfunded relative to the scale of need. The NCCET identified a 14.4% gap, on average, between utility investment in income-limited programmes and the actual share of low-income households in service territories, based on 2024 programme reports. "State policymakers and utilities can take immediate action to lower energy costs for customers," said Nick Montoni of the NCCET.3
The affordability problem has arrived as the US generation mix undergoes a pronounced shift. Solar accounted for a record-high 12.8% of US electricity supply in May 2026, overtaking coal (at 12.2%) for the first full month on record, according to energy think tank Ember. Solar generated 45.5 terawatt-hours in May, up 17% from a year earlier and above the previous record set in July 2025. Coal hit an all-time monthly low of 39.3 TWh in April 2026.2
The deployment has been geographically concentrated. States carried by President Trump in the last election accounted for 74% of all US solar capacity installed in the first quarter of 2026, according to data from the Solar Energy Industries Association and Wood Mackenzie. Some of the fastest-installing states are also those with thinner experience operating complex low-income assistance programmes.2
The build-out has not translated into cheaper retail bills. Solar's growth has coincided with rising rates driven by grid infrastructure spending, interconnection investment and utility rate cases progressing through state commissions. The NCCET report's publication on Tuesday (2026-07-07) gives interveners in those proceedings a hard figure — the 14.4% programme gap — to put on the record against pending rate increase filings.3
Demand growth from data centres adds pressure. The EIA's Annual Energy Outlook 2026 projects server consumption in standalone data centres will increase substantially by 2050, outpacing growth in all other data centre types combined. That incremental load on a grid already producing rising retail bills sharpens the dilemma for state commissions trying to balance infrastructure investment against residential burdens.1
The near-term indicator is how state rate proceedings absorb Tuesday's (2026-07-07) data. Where the affordability shortfall is widest and the programme gap largest, the report gives consumer advocates a precise and quantified measure of underservice — one that is harder to dismiss in front of a commission than anecdotal testimony alone.3