These States Are Seeing the Highest Jumps in Energy Prices — Here’s Why

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The soaring cost of energy was on the ballot in recent special elections and will likely play a key role in the Midterms — and it’s not hard to understand why. 

The most recent U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) Consumer Price Index report showed that while the overall inflation rate is 2.4% for the 12 months ending in January, electricity prices rose by 6.3% and natural gas increased by 9.8% during the same period.

Here’s where prices are rising the fastest and what is driving the trend.

The Politics of Power Pricing

According to the New York Times, President Donald Trump has claimed that blue states have the country’s highest energy prices because of burdensome regulations and misguided investments in clean energy, such as wind and solar.

The president’s detractors counter that Trump cut billions of dollars from hundreds of energy projects, mostly in blue states. 

While a CNN analysis of U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) data found that Democrat-led states like Hawaii, California, Massachusetts and New York have among the highest energy prices in the nation, the facts point to inflation drivers more complex than voting patterns and policy. 

The Trend Is Neither Regional Nor Political

According to a January report from the nonprofit utility group PowerLines, prices are rising in nearly every corner of the country, with utilities requesting $31 billion in rate hikes in 2025, more than double the year before. 

Roughly half of those requests are from Southeastern red states and the CNN analysis found that GOP-led states such as Texas have invested far more in renewable energy than their blue counterparts, while others, such as Kansas, Iowa and North Dakota, rely on onshore wind to keep energy prices low. 

States With the Fastest-Rising Energy Prices

Despite the dueling political rhetoric, party affiliation is not a commonality among the states that saw the highest price increases from November 2024 to November 2025, as per the CNN analysis. 

• Pennsylvania: 20.3%
• Ohio: 18.6%
• Maryland: 17.5%
• Virginia: 17.3%
• Maine: 13.7%

The 4 Factors Sending Energy Prices Up

According to the PowerLines report, four primary drivers are responsible for the surge in power prices. 

• Aging infrastructure: The majority of utility spending goes to replacing or rebuilding aging grid and distribution infrastructure, much of which is nearing the end of its useful life.
• Extreme weather: Utilities spend enormous sums to rebuild after severe storms and natural disasters and to bolster existing systems to endure future catastrophes.
• Fuel cost volatility: Fuel costs are operational expenses that utilities pass on to customers and volatility from global crises like Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has driven prices higher.
• Rising data demand: Consumers are bearing the astronomical energy costs of large data centers, particularly those supporting AI. Fortune reported that the U.S. is home to 45% of the world’s data centers — 5,427 of them occupying millions of square feet — and communities near large ones have seen their bills rise by up to 267%.

Editor’s note on political coverage: GOBankingRates is nonpartisan and strives to cover all aspects of the economy objectively and present balanced reports on politically focused finance stories. You can find more coverage of this topic on GOBankingRates.com.

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