# U.S. Residential Electricity Prices Rise; Data Centers Could Use 11.8% of U.S. Power by 2030.

By Simon Yoon

Canonical URL: https://www.tokenpost.com/news/technology/34236
Published: 2026-10-18T02:38:30.000Z
Updated: 2026-10-18T02:38:30.000Z
Section: Technology

> Data centers could use 11.8% of U.S. electricity by 2030. Estimates of their effect on household and wholesale prices measure different markets.

U.S. residential electricity prices averaged 18.31 cents per kilowatt-hour in July 2026 as data centers were projected to use 11.8% of national power by 2030, sharpening attention on household costs.

The July average was 4.9% higher than a year earlier. The annual average rose from 13.15 cents per kilowatt-hour in 2020 to 17.30 cents in 2025, a calculated increase of 31.6%. Those nationwide figures show the change in electricity prices, but they do not isolate data centers’ contribution.

Data centers house computing and networking equipment that stores, processes and delivers digital services. As AI demand drives higher electricity-use forecasts, one estimate puts data centers’ share of U.S. power consumption at 11.8% in 2030, with modeled outcomes ranging from 9.5% to 15.3%.

Estimates of price effects vary by market and measure. A retail-price study of data center entry from 2010 through 2024 estimated that average retail electricity prices rose 2.7%, including a 2.1% increase for residential customers. The estimated effect was larger at investor-owned utilities and in states with deregulated generation; cooperatives showed no increase.

A separate wholesale-market model estimated prices were 6.9% higher nationwide by 2025 and 15% higher in Northern Virginia. Its preferred scenario put the nationwide effect at 12.3% by 2028. Wholesale prices reflect electricity sold in bulk markets, while retail rates are what households pay, so the estimates do not measure the same cost.

The Ratepayer Protection Pledge lists more than 300 organizations and gives its signatories’ coverage as 80% of electricity delivered to U.S. homes and businesses, reaching 263 million people. Microsoft has committed to seek utility rates that cover its data centers’ electricity costs and pay for required system improvements. Anthropic has pledged to cover electricity-price increases consumers may face from its data centers and 100% of the grid upgrades needed to connect them.

Those commitments describe planned cost protections. They do not show that household electricity bills have fallen.