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Electricity generation and prices were up this summer, fueling parallel narratives about surging demand growth and increasing concerns over affordability.
Here’s a look at those numbers and others shaping decisions in the electric utility industry.
By the numbers
3.8%
Increase in total net electricity generation this July compared with the same month last year, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. The EIA attributed the increase to hot weather, but analysts told Utility Dive this could be the beginning of an anticipated surge in demand from data centers and electrification.
$29 billion
What U.S. utilities requested in rate increases in the first half of 2025, according to PowerLines, a nonprofit that advocates for pro-consumer regulatory reform.
12 years
How long the SOO Green transmission project has been under development. The 2.1-GW project would link the PJM Interconnection and the Midcontinent Independent System Operator. David Pacyna, SOO Green HVDC Link CEO, said in an interview that the project could start operating in late 2031 to mid-2032.
2.1 GW
New generation that has been added in the PJM Interconnection footprint this year. Concerns that capacity is not growing fast enough to meet anticipated demand is driving a rebellion by governors in the PJM footprint who say they will pull their states out of the organization unless given more influence in the grid operator.
$640 million
How much Xcel Energy and two telecom companies have agreed to pay to about 4,000 plaintiffs to settle a lawsuit over the 2021 Marshall Fire, the most destructive in Colorado history.
