Every dot below is a utility and the size of the dot is the total electricity sales.
National and state averages mask enormous variations. Customers of one utility may pay twice what neighboring customers pay.
Search for your utility to see its rate history.
Utility-level rates & changes (2019–2024)
Each dot = one utility (500+ GWh/yr, covering ~87% of US electricity). Bundled rates
(total revenue / total MWh). X-axis = real % change since 2019. Y-axis = state grouping.
Investor-owned utilities (red) have seen rate increases generally after accounting for inflation. Cooperatives (green) and municipals (blue) got cheaper on average.
Within any state, the spread between utilities can be enormous.
Your utility’s rate trend
Search for your utility to see how residential, commercial, and industrial rates have changed over time (real ¢/kWh, 2024$).
All rates are bundled — total revenue / total MWh, combining generation and delivery and account for inflation.
Search for a utility above to see its rate trends over time.
Where does the money go? Since 2019, capital spending by investor-owned utilities has
grown 10% from $118B to $130B/year. Distribution increased 33% ($41B → $54B),
while generation capex fell 18% ($38B → $31B). Transmission rose 9% to $31B.
Generation operating costs dropped $7.6B (−6%) as renewables and gas displaced coal.
All IOUs combined — capital spending
Annual additions to plant in service, adjusted to 2024 dollars. Summed across all 304 IOUs in the FERC Form 1 dataset.
All IOUs combined — operating expenses vs revenue
The gap between revenue and total costs is
net operating income (NOI). NOI covers interest on debt and return on equity.
Summed across all 304 IOUs in the FERC Form 1 dataset.
What has changed since 2019?
All values in real 2024 dollars. Comparing 2019 to 2024 across all FERC Form 1 IOUs:
| Category | 2019 | 2024 | Change | % Change |
|---|
| Revenue | $340.5B | $349.9B | +$9.5B | +2.8% |
| Operating expenses |
| Generation | $123.3B | $115.7B | −$7.6B | −6.2% |
| Transmission | $20.0B | $20.7B | +$0.6B | +3.1% |
| Distribution | $17.8B | $18.6B | +$0.8B | +4.5% |
| Admin & General | $38.0B | $21.5B | −$16.5B | −43.3% |
| Customer Costs | $14.0B | $14.4B | +$0.4B | +2.8% |
| Depreciation & Amortization | $43.7B | $47.5B | +$3.7B | +8.6% |
| Capital spending (additions to plant) |
| Generation | $38.1B | $31.3B | −$6.7B | −17.7% |
| Transmission | $28.1B | $30.6B | +$2.5B | +8.9% |
| Distribution | $40.6B | $54.1B | +$13.4B | +33.0% |
| General & Other | $10.9B | $13.5B | +$2.6B | +23.4% |
| Total capital spending | $117.7B | $129.5B | +$11.8B | +10.0% |
Key trends since 2019: Distribution capital spending surged +$13.4B (+33%) as utilities invest in grid hardening, wildfire mitigation, and accommodating distributed energy resources.
Depreciation rose +$3.7B (+9%) reflecting the growing asset base.
Generation operating costs fell −$7.6B as cheaper renewables and gas displaced coal.
Overall revenue grew just +2.8% in real terms despite significantly higher capital deployment.
Your utility’s costs
304 IOUs from FERC Form 1. All values in 2024 dollars. Search for your utility to see its
revenue, operating expenses, capital spending, and how they’ve changed over time.
Coming soon: Utility profit analysis including rate of return on invested capital,
net operating income trends, and profit margins across all FERC Form 1 filers.
This section is under development. We are refining how utility profits and rate of return
are calculated and presented. Check back soon for a comprehensive analysis of regulated utility profitability.
Residential customers have grown ~1%/yr nationally.
The key story since 2019 has been a surge in load at specific utilities driven by data centers and electrification.
Data center load shows up as both industrial and commercial sales.
Hyperscale facilities are often industrial, while colocation and smaller facilities are often commercial.
We account for both classes to spot where data centers are landing.
National trends
Total US customers and electricity sales by class (EIA 861, all utilities).
Commercial + industrial sales growth (since 2019)
Data centers don’t have a single customer class.
Some utilities classify them as industrial, others as commercial, depending on facility size, contract type, and the utility’s reporting conventions.
Hyperscale campuses often land under industrial; colocation and smaller facilities often land under commercial.
The chart below shows combined commercial + industrial sales growth since 2019.
Your utility’s customers & sales
Search for a utility to see its customer counts and electricity sales by class over time.
Search for a utility above to see its customer and sales trends.
Your utility’s sales mix
Search for a utility above to see its sales mix.