National retail electricity prices increased 2.5 percent in 2025, after adjusting for inflation, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory said Tuesday.
That is a stark change from previous years, when electricity prices generally kept pace with inflation. The finding is a potential warning signal about the role that data centers play in pushing up the cost of electricity.
Analysts said the increase points to a wider shift in the electric sector. New electricity demand historically pushed down prices as more consumers shared an electric system’s costs. But electricity demand from data centers is arriving at a time when everything costs more — from power plant equipment like gas and wind turbines to grid equipment like transformers and switchgear.
The combination is an increase in power prices.
