November 5, 2025
A new study from Lawrence Berkeley National Lab finds that every state in the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative has higher electric prices than Pennsylvania.1
And each of those RGGI states saw their prices jump more over the past five years than the national average.
The study reinforces the conclusions of the recent Pittsburgh Works Together report “If Only RGGI Could Do What Pennsylvania Already Does…”, which found that Pennsylvania makes more carbon-free electricity more cheaply than any RGGI state.
From 2019 to 2024, electricity prices in the U.S. went up an average of 2.4 cents per kilowatt hour, to 12.9 cents. Pennsylvania’s price went up slightly more (2.7 cents), but its 2024 price remained below the U.S. average at 12.5 cents.
The numbers for the RGGI states are much worse. The price hikes in those states ranged from a low of 2.9 cents (Delaware) to a high of 5.8 cents (Connecticut). And customers in those states now have electricity prices that are much higher than Pennsylvania’s or the average price paid in the U.S.
In New York, the average price is 19.7 cents. In Massachusetts, it’s 24 cents, or nearly twice as high as Pennsylvania’s price.
The study2 had several significant findings that are relevant to Pennsylvania:
It found that states that saw significant increases in demand from data centers and other large customers saw their prices go up less than states where demand was decreasing. Paying for the wires and infrastructure to deliver power has been a primary driver of price increases in recent years. To the extent those investments can be spread over a bigger customer base, the impact is reduced, the study concluded.
Virginia, which saw one of the largest growths in demand because of its data center expansions, only saw its average electricity price go up by 1.3 cents per kilowatt hour between 2019 and 2024, half the national average.
“Overall, our results cast doubt on the simple view that load growth will necessarily increase prices over the medium- to longer-term,” according to the study. But, the researchers concluded, it’s unclear how this dynamic will play out across the country in the future.
Higher levels of wind and solar generation did not lead to higher prices by themselves. But states with policies that require an increase in wind and solar through renewable energy portfolio standards saw their prices go up more. To quote the study: “Those states – especially in the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic regions – with relatively lower-quality wind and solar resources have often tended to experience larger price impacts.”
The study found that privately owned solar facilities at individual buildings, such as houses with solar panels, have a mixed impact on prices. The solar installations lower overall energy costs for those who have them by reducing their reliance on the local utility, but they tend to drive up costs for the overall customer base because fixed expenses are spread over fewer kilowatt-hours of demand.
But the study concluded it is difficult to say whether that will be the case in the future.
“While our results suggest that (behind the meter) solar led to meaningful price increases in a number of states during our historical analysis period, the same may not hold true in a future with much higher underlying levels of load growth occurring throughout the country. Just as rapid load growth might raise prices in such a context, so too might load reducers, such as BTM solar, help to dampen those price increases,” the study concluded.
Ken Zapinski
412-352-4364; ken@pghworks.com
