Many Americans have felt the pain of inflation at the gas pump or when buying groceries. But not all have noticed that electricity prices have also quietly gone up. For this coming summer, or maybe a much longer time, more American families will be hit by hefty electricity bills.
According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA), in 2021, the average residential electricity price rose by 4.3 percent from 2020 to 13.72 cents per kilowatthour (kWh), the fastest rate since 2008. The latest data show the increase rates for the first three months in 2022 were 8.1, 3.6, and 8.8 percent, respectively, suggesting an even higher increase rate this year for residential electricity prices.
