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Commercial electricity costs are expected to increase by over 2X the rate of inflation for the duration of this decade.
The increased costs come, as demand for electricity increases, requiring utilities to invest in increased generation, along with upgraded transmission, especially in the parts of the country with the oldest transmission, including New England and the Midwest.
While the largest change in electricity demand will be from data centers, the shift from gas vehicles to electric vehicles will start to have a much more meaningful impact on demand, along with increased adoption of electrified heat (heat pumps), industrial manufacturing switching from fuel-based processes to electric processes, and a general increase in usage because of population growth & increased consumption for more traditional uses (i.e. cooling, lighting,
Electricity Usage by data centers is expected to increase from around 6% of all usage in 2025 to 10% in 2030.
Electric vehicles are expected to consume 10% of electricity by 2030.
And, depending on adoption, it's possible heat pumps will consume 10% of electricity by 2030.
Even as electricity generation increases at a higher rate than in recent years, we can expect costs to increase. This is because more users and use cases are competing for the electricity, as well as the significant infrastructure costs that are necessary to deliver electricity from generating sources to consumption locations.