Utilities ask for record $9.2 billion in second-quarter rate hikes

How it leans Rate pressure is accelerating · Consumer advocacy nonprofit

✓What's documented Reports a named, published quarterly index (PowerLines, Utility Bills Are Rising: Q2 2026) with the source PDF linked.

Utilities filed a record $9.2 billion in rate increase requests in the second quarter of 2026, bringing the first-half total to $18.6 billion, according to consumer group PowerLines. Those filings could affect more than 56 million customers. Rate base spending is where utilities earn their regulated return, so the request volume and the affordability backlash are two readings of the same meter.

• PowerLines counted $18.6 billion in electric and gas rate increase requests in the first half of 2026, with a record $9.2 billion in Q2 alone, up 26% over Q2 2025.
• Southern utilities requested the largest share at $4.5 billion across more than 26 million customers; Midwest $2.7 billion, West $1.5 billion.
• Oncor in Texas filed the single largest quarterly request at $1.2 billion, part of a five-year plan tied to oil and gas and data center demand.
• Dominion Energy sought $1.5 billion across three Virginia requests, including $1.1 billion in unrecovered fuel costs.
• PowerLines found that of 83 rate requests analyzed in 2025, just two were rejected outright.
• One in six American households are behind on utility bills, per the National Energy Assistance Directors Association.