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Electricity prices are on the rise. Is it inflation or an underlying issue?
The sun is burning a hole in Americans’ wallets. Back-to-back months of heat records and sweltering days have contributed to rising electricity costs, and experts say that without action, it’s a problem that will likely only get worse.
According to CBS News’ price tracker, the cost of electricity has increased from $0.14 per kilowatt hour in 2019 to $0.18 per kilowatt hour in 2024 — a change of more than 28.5%. The average American is now paying nearly $300 a month just in utilities.
For many people, it just isn’t affordable.
“Sometimes I have to choose whether I’m going to pay the light bill or do I pay all the rent or buy food or not let my son do a sport?” Stacey Freeman, a 44-year-old North Carolina mom told KFF Health News.
Her energy bills have cost her hundreds a month, even as she relied on window units and space heaters in the summer and winter.
Freeman’s situation is known as “energy poverty,” or the inability to afford utilities to properly heat or cool their home.
A 2022 study published in Nature Communications found that 16% of U.S. households experience energy poverty, which researchers defined as spending more than 6% of household income on energy expenditures. It’s not a problem solely for those who are considered low-income. The study found that 5.2 million households that live above the poverty line face this issue, with Black, Hispanic and Native American communities feeling a disproportionate impact.
“Energy inequity is an issue of increasing urgency,” the study says. “…creating a federal energy poverty line would be a critical step in identifying families that face large disparities in access to affordable electricity and energy in the U.S. and improve programs’ abilities to address energy burdens.”
The cost of electricity is based on a multitude of factors, including the volatile prices for natural gas, wildfire risk, electricity transmission and distribution, regulations and, the one factor Americans know all too well, inflation. But experts say there’s an underlying problem that, unlike inflation, isn’t going away anytime soon — the heat.
An unreliable national grid
Recent years have seen back-to-back heat records across the world, including in the U.S. Rising temperatures fuel extreme weather events, such as heat waves in the summer and snow storms in the winter, which then increases energy consumption as people try to keep their homes warm or cool. It also increases the costs for the utility companies themselves to make sure that the electric infrastructure can handle it.
Currently, it can’t.
Power outages remain a major problem across the U.S. When Tropical Storm Ernesto passed by the U.S. Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico earlier this month, it knocked out power to hundreds of thousands of residents. At one point, nearly half of Puerto Rico and almost all of USVI were without electricity.
But it’s not just the islands — it’s the mainland too. Of all the major power outages in the U.S. from 2000 to 2023, scientists at the nonprofit Climate Central found that 80% were because of weather.
Climate Central
Every four years, the American Society of Civil Engineers issues a “report card” on how U.S. infrastructure fares in a variety of categories. In the latest report, the energy sector received a C-.
Engineering experts acknowledged that spending on transmission lines had grown and that utilities were being proactive about strengthening the national grid, but said that “weather remains an increasing threat” that is continuously causing power outages. Transmission and distribution systems are a major concern, they said, and “is likely to accelerate as the impacts of climate change persist and the public’s expectation of more reliable, ‘always-on’ electricity increases.”
“While the weather has always been the number one threat to the energy sector’s reliability, climate change has only exacerbated the frequency and intensity of these events and associated costs,” the report states. “The Department of Energy (DOE) found that power outages are costing the U.S. economy $28 billion to $169 billion annually.”
Multiple polls and studies show how pervasive energy poverty and the heat can be. An early August poll by The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research found that 39% of Americans say that heat has had a “major impact” on their electricity bills, with another 30% identifying a “minor impact.” About 40% of poll takers say they also had unexpected utility expenses because of extreme weather events, including storms, flooding, heat and wildfires.
The heat isn’t just costly, it’s also dangerous. Extreme heat is the No. 1 weather-related killer in the U.S. and is known for exacerbating cardiovascular and respiratory conditions. The cold is also a concern, with the EPA reporting that more than 19,000 Americans have died from cold-related causes since 1979.
“Not only are households living in more poverty and closer proximity to highly polluted areas at greater risk of adverse health impacts,” the 2022 Nature study says. “They must also consume more energy to overcome the particulate emissions, which, themselves, reduce the efficiency of clean sources such as solar panels.”
A solution for cheaper energy
Experts say there is a long-term solution that can drastically help — clean energy.
In 2023, about 60% of U.S. electricity generation came from the burning of fossil fuels, one of the primary drivers of rising global temperatures, according to the Energy Information Administration. Renewable energy has hit record highs, but last year, it was only used for 21% of electricity generation.
A March 2020 study found that the continued warming of the planet could take a significant toll on U.S. energy infrastructure as-is. Specifically, the study found that the most costly aspects will be the reduced lifespan of substation transformers and the increased need for vegetation management expenditures.
“Total infrastructure costs were found to rise considerably, with annual climate change expenditures increasing by as much as 25%,” the study says. “The results demonstrate that climate impacts will likely be substantial, though this analysis only captures a portion of the total potential impacts.”
They found that if the U.S. were to more aggressively tackle climate change, it could reduce the expected costs by as much as 50% by 2090.
Expanding clean energy has already proven to help communities.
In July, the think tank Energy Innovation found that “states with high levels of wind and solar generation like New Mexico, Iowa, and Oklahoma have experienced the lowest rate increases” in energy bills. When Hurricane Ian hit Florida in 2022, a community that runs completely on solar power managed to escape relatively unscathed while the areas around it faced rampant destruction. In 2021, The Center for American Progress found that investments in clean energy infrastructure could save U.S. households $500 every year just on energy costs.
And this is why it’s critical for better policy and funding, experts say.
“Clean energy technologies are expected to continue to decline in costs, enable substantial emissions reductions in the electricity sector without increasing costs,” Energy Innovation found in its report this year, noting, however, that it is up to regulators and policymakers to ensure that consumers are not hit with “unnecessary costs and risks” associated with the transition to clean energy.
Better planning, competitive resource procurement, grid-enhancing technologies, cooperation enhancement, and other strategies could help alleviate that issue, the group said, adding, “Regulators and policymakers have a range of tools they can deploy to mitigate pressure on rising rates, ensuring an affordable and accessible transition to clean electricity.”
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Those aren’t early Halloween decorations: giant Joro spiders, known for parachuting through the air, were spotted in Pennsylvania this month.
Six of the spiders were reported on Sept. 5, according to Joro Watch, an interactive monitoring program developed by the University of Georgia’s Center for Invasive Species and Ecosystem Health. An entomologist visited Pennsylvania’s Bucks County and verified there were adult Joro spiders there.
What are Joro spiders?
Joro spiders, which are an invasive species native to Asia, can shoot out long strands of silk that get caught by the wind, carrying them through the air. Some have called them parachuting spiders because of the way they move.
They create large webs that can be up to 10 feet wide, according to PennState Extension.
David Madison / Getty Images
Adult females are large and brightly colored, with legs up to 4 inches long, according to experts. Males are much smaller. While female Joro spiders are about an inch long, male Joro spiders have a body length of less than half an inch.
Female Joro spiders, known for their yellow and gray abdomens, will lay egg sacs holding 400 to 500 eggs.
The spread of Joro spiders — where are they headed?
Joro spiders were first found in the U.S. in Georgia in 2014, but experts believe that the invasive species may have arrived as early as 2010. Joro spiders have spread across the South in the years since. They’ve now been reported across more than half a dozen states.
In 2022, PennState Extension said that it was likely Joro spiders “will be able to spread throughout eastern North America at least as far north as Pennsylvania and possibly further in warmer, coastal areas.” Researchers there thought it may take 35 years for Joro spiders to reach southeastern Pennsylvania, but said there were two ways Joro spiders could reach Pennsylvania more quickly.
One was if young and small Joro spiders were transported tens to hundreds of miles through the air after being picked up by strong winds and storms. The other way would be if they were transported to new areas by humans.
José R. Ramírez-Garofalo, an ecologist at Rutgers University’s Lockwood Lab and the president of Protectors of Pine Oak Woods on Staten Island, in April told SI Live that “it is a matter of when, not if” the spiders arrive in New York and New Jersey.
Are Joro spiders dangerous?
While Joro spiders do have venom, their venom is weak. They also have small fangs, which makes it difficult to pierce human skin.
“We have no evidence that they’ve done any damage to a person or a pet,” Clemson University assistant professor Dave Coyle, who has a doctorate in entomology, previously said.
If a bite does happen, PennState Extension said that it’s less painful than a bee sting, and any localized pain and redness would quickly resolve.
More U.S. cities and states are starting to say “yes, in my backyard” as they struggle to meet the housing needs of growing populations.
The “YIMBY” movement is a political effort to tackle the country’s housing shortage by increasing the housing supply with strategies like changing zoning codes and other regulations that limit home density. The United States is millions of homes short of what’s needed to meet demand, according to the national nonprofit group “Up for Growth.”
Minneapolis resident Bernice Duncan has been searching for a new home with more space for more than five years. The telehealth professional works from home in a cramped two-bedroom apartment she shares with her two adult sons.
“Everybody is not able to move freely, like you would in a in a house or, you know, having your own office space,” said Duncan.
During the years she’s been looking, property values have soared. With a $1,600 monthly housing budget, she says she’s been priced out of the market.
“It’s been a struggle,” Duncan said. “As the economy continues to grow, your paycheck don’t,” she added. “You’re not going to pay less than $2,000.”
Saying “yes” to more housing
Twin-Cities YIMBY was formed in 2023 to advocate for policies that will generate more affordable housing options for people like Duncan. The group supports the elimination of zoning restrictions to allow for more home density across the Minneapolis area.
“In the past five years, our median housing price has increased by $100,000, which is a huge increase” said Paige Kahle, a realtor who founded Twin Cities YIMBY along with colleagues Nichole Hayden and Meghan Howard.
YIMBYs have been building a coalition of pro-housing advocates across the country to counter those who say “not in my back yard,” known as NIMBYs.
“I think it’s getting easier. But literally when you go to the local meetings, the city council meetings, planning commission meetings, there’s still NIMBYs that are very loud and very organized and often kind of angry because they don’t want this kind of housing near them,” said Kahle.
But without a plan to bring housing costs down, Kahle says the shortage is hurting home buyers and renters alike.
“They’re paying 50% of their income, 60% of their income on housing, which just isn’t sustainable,” she said. ”We need more housing and we need it quickly,” said Kahle. “Traditionally, how we’ve addressed the housing crisis is through subsidies, massive subsidies to bring down the cost of housing for folks. But there just aren’t enough subsidies in the world to do that. So, we really need to look at these other mechanisms to increase the density and lower the cost of housing.”
Minneapolis 2040: The city’s plan
Addressing these concerns is the goal of the Minneapolis 2040 Comprehensive Plan. Passed in 2018, the ambitious bipartisan bill implemented historic zoning reforms to increase the number of available housing units including:
- The elimination of single-family-only zoning to permit build duplexes, triplexes and fourplexes in all neighborhoods.
- Height minimums for new residential buildings in high-density zones.
- The elimination of minimum parking requirements for new housing developments.
The plan has faced opposition from some homeowners who argue that increased density could undermine the character and charm of single-family neighborhoods.
“The 2040 Plan will hurt the uniqueness and architectural heritage of many neighborhoods,” said one opponent during a 2018 City Planning Commission meeting.
Implementation of the plan was paused in 2022 after environmental groups filed a lawsuit arguing the plan may have severe unintended consequences to the environment. In May, a state appeals court ruled to lift an injunction on the plan, and just last month the Minnesota State Supreme Court denied a petition for further review of the objections, clearing the way for the plan to continue.
“People want a place that they can live, [where] they can afford to raise their family, that’s safe and affordable. So, it’s really been part of the … regional conversation as well as the national conversation,” said Alene Tchourumoff of the Minneapolis Federal Reserve.
Over the next decade, the Minneapolis Fed is using multiple data sources to track the economic impact of these changes made as part of the 2040 plan.
“We really wanted to have a deeper understanding of what the effects of the policy change would be, recognizing the fact that these important policy changes in housing often take a long time to actually manifest,” said Tchourumoff.
There is some promising early data. According to a report by the Pew Charitable Trust, between 2017 and 2022, nearly 21,000 new units were permitted in Minneapolis — most in buildings with 20 or more units. In that same time, rents in the city rose by just 1% — far less than the rest of Minnesota, which saw a 14% rent increase.
Deregulation across the country
As Minnesota lawmakers consider expanding these rezoning reforms statewide, other states such as California, Oregon, Massachusetts and Montana have already implemented similar YIMBY policies.
The changes in Minneapolis are already making a difference for residents like Rebecca Hemmans, who became a first-time homeowner at 67 after viewing nearly 100 listings.
“I had this dream about living in a single-family home and sitting on my porch with my table of lemonade and glasses for the neighbors to wave at,” Hemmans said.
To accommodate her budget, she chose to adjust her dream — instead of a single-family home, she purchased an attached townhome, and she’s happy with the compromise.
“I don’t have to check with the landlord to say, “Hey, can I do this or do that?” she said. “If I want to paint my walls orange, I can do that.”
