Washington, DC, August 12^th 2026— Today’s inflation data confirms that escalating electricity prices are a key component of the nationwide affordability crisis. Electricity prices rose 4.2% from July 2025 to July 2026, compared with 2.26% for overall CPI, an increase of nearly a full percentage point (.84%) in just one year.

In a statement, Paul Cicio, Chair of the Electricity Transmission Competition Coalition said. “Utility profits are soaring on the backs of captive electric ratepayers while policymakers fail to act upon common sense policy that is guaranteed to reduce consumers’ electric bills. If America knows one thing, it’s that competition reduces costs, increases innovation, and delivers better value to consumers. Despite this, only five percent of all transmission projects are competitively bid. Without competition, a monopoly utility has zero incentive to reduce costs because the more they spend the higher their profits.”

On July 22^nd FERC commissioners appeared before the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources during an oversight hearing, Chairman Mike Lee (R-Utah) asked why competition in transmission has not materialized under FERC Order 1000 and what can be done to realize its potential. That is the right question. Why has FERC not acted?

Recent research released by R Street Institute confirms that competitive transmission projects are about 30% less expensive than comparable incumbent utility projects and more often are delivered on time. Edison Electric Institute data estimates investor-owned utilities will spend $138B in new transmission from 2026-2028. If they were competitively bid, ratepayers would save $40B.