This is why our electricity bills are so high right now

COLUMBUS, Ohio—Protestors stood in the snow outside the offices of Ohio’s utility regulator in January to say they were fed up with rising electricity rates.

Even a few years ago, the scene would have been hard to imagine, considering the complexity of utility costs and the obscurity of state regulatory agencies. But rate hikes in Ohio and across the country have provoked frustrated consumers to demand answers.

“It’s just getting harder and harder now to live,” said Steve Van Kuiken, a United Church of Christ pastor in Columbus who is part of a community group opposing rate increases. “The working class is really getting squeezed, and everything’s going up.”

Van Kuiken was describing the resentment that has gripped much of the country. US residential electricity rates increased by 5 percent in 2025 compared to the prior year, according to data released February 24 by the Energy ...