Mainers are facing the highest year-over-year energy rate increase in the nation, surging by over a third, according to a Monday report from Axios, as average energy costs skyrocketing by over 36 percent in just one year.
Maine’s average residential energy costs increased by a staggering 36.3 percent in just one year, from May 2024 to May 2025.
Ratepayers in Maine faced an increase nearly twice as large as those in Connecticut, the state with the second-fastest rising costs, which saw an 18.4 percent increase from May 2024. New Hampshire, Maine’s only neighbor, saw a 4.4 percent increase.
Massachusetts, like Maine, has a Democrat governor and Democrat-controlled legislature but, in stark contrast to Maine, only saw a 4.2 percent energy rate increase in the same time period.
Five states saw decreases in energy costs, with Nevada dropping by a significant 17.7 percent, and Hawaii dropping by seven percent.
Nationwide, the U.S. saw a 6.5 percent increase in average residential energy costs.
Axios pointed to energy-consuming AI data centers as a possible driving factor in nationwide energy cost increases, citing analysts from the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis (EEFA).
“Anywhere you’re seeing a massive takeoff in load growth, the most likely cause is data centers, and that is almost certainly going to have an impact on electric rates,” said Cathy Kunkel, an energy consultant at the EEFA.
Datacenters do not appear to explain Maine’s skyrocketing costs, however. According to an online map of data centers, Maine has just seven, compared with Connecticut’s 60, yet Maine’s costs increased at nearly twice Connecticut’s rate.
In part, Maine’s rising rates may be due to the controversial net energy billing program, which allows power companies to subsidize the cost of “renewable” energy sources, such as solar, by increasing rates for other Mainers.
Other green agenda mandates also drive high electricity rates in Maine, including one that requires a certain percentage of Maine’s energy be generated by renewables and another capping how much hyrdropwer the state may produce.
[RELATED: Mainers Overflow Hearing to Speak Out on Both Sides of Proposed Net Energy Billing Repeal…]
That program has led to skyrocketing costs for Mainers who can’t afford or don’t want to install rooftop solar panels, and has driven some companies out of business.
Republican led-efforts to repeal net energy billing or mitigate its harm during the most recent legislative session did not meet with success.
Axios’ report comes under a month after a damning CNBC report that ranked Maine as the worst state in the nation for infrastructure, considering energy grid, transportation, and a variety of other factors.
