FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
February 13th, 2026
Annualized Electricity Prices Outpace CPI by Over 170% - Unleashing Transmission Competition is Answer
Washington, DC — Today, the Consumer Price Index report underlines the longstanding trend that electricity prices continue to escalate. The latest data shows that January electricity prices increased by 6.3% on an annualized basis as compared to 2.4% for the overall CPI, demonstrating that electricity price inflation is 178% greater than the CPI on an annualized basis. Only one of the 13 index categories is higher.
In a statement, Paul Cicio, Chair of the Electricity Transmission Competition Coalition stated, “FERC must act to close the Order 1000 regulatory loophole that allows incumbent utilities to evade competition when building new and very expensive transmission lines. This is the key to achieving the President Trump’s electricity affordability goal.”
The Federal Power Act is first and foremost a consumer protection Act, yet FERC continues to not act to protect the consumer. Letting utilities compete with one another to build transmission lines has been shown to reduce costs by as much as 40 percent and yet less than 10 percent of all transmission projects are competitive. There are numerous examples of competitively bid projects saving hundreds of millions of dollars for consumers and ratepayers.
See examples of projects that were competitively bid and the cost savings, as well as projects that were not subject to competition and the cost overruns here.
About the Electricity Transmission Competition Coalition
The Electricity Transmission Competition Coalition (ETCC) is a broad-based, nation-wide coalition committed to increasing competition in America’s electricity transmission infrastructure. We advocate for common-sense policies and solutions that result in competitively priced transmission projects, which reduce energy costs for all ratepayers – from large manufacturers to residential consumers. The ETCC represents a diverse group of 95 companies and organizations from all 50 states, including manufacturing groups, retail electric consumers, state consumer advocates, public power representatives, think tanks, and non-incumbent transmission developers.
For more information, visit: www.electricitytransmissioncompetitioncoalition.org.
Press Contact:
Ginger Felberg
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