Record second-quarter filings could affect the future bills of more than 56 million utility customers nationwide.

As summer heat pushes electricity demand higher and household energy costs remain a growing concern, PowerLines’ latest quarterly index shows utilities have requested $18.6 billion in electric and gas rate increases during the first half of 2026. Utility Bills Are Rising: Q2 2026 Update finds a record $9.2 billion in rate increase requests filed during the second quarter of this year alone, surpassing the total in Q2 2025—the previous Q2 rate increase request record—by 26 percent.

“Summer is when Americans pay attention to what electricity costs because their utility bills are often higher,” said Charles Hua, Founder and Executive Director of PowerLines. “The amount of utility rate increase requests in these filings shows the pressure on household energy bills isn’t easing. As we gear up into a political cycle where energy affordability is a defining issue, all eyes will be on these regulatory decisions.”

The filings in Q2 alone could affect future bills for more than 56 million U.S. utility consumers.

The PowerLines index highlights where rate increase requests are accelerating, identifies the largest utility filings of the quarter, and includes a state-by-state breakdown of every major electric and gas rate increase request filed during the second quarter of 2026. 

The full index, Utility Bills Are Rising: Q2 2026 Update, is available here.

PowerLines is a nonpartisan consumer education nonprofit organization that aims to modernize the utility regulatory system for American energy consumers to lower utility bills and grow the economy.