More electric utilities filed rate cases with their state regulators last year than at any other time in the previous 35 years, according to a new report from the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA).
In 2018, 89 utilities, which is nearly half of all major U.S. electric utilities, tried to change electricity rates by filing rate cases with state regulatory commissions. This number was the largest number since 1983, EIA data shows.
Of the 89 utilities filing rate cases, only 10 proposed to decrease rates, 1 negotiated a rate freeze until 2020, and the other 78 utilities proposed rate increases.
One of the main reasons for requesting rate increases, according to the EIA, was higher spending for transmission and delivery of electricity, as opposed to generation costs.
Delivery expenses included investments to modernize and strengthen the electric power grid, connect to wind and solar installations, restore storm damage, manage vegetation, and install new customer information and billing systems.
Last year, EIA reported that investment in U.S. electric distribution systems had risen 54 percent over the past two decades, from $31 billion to $51 billion annually. Transmission had similar capital needs with utilities focusing on grid modernization to integrate renewable energy resources and deal with outages from weather disasters.
These investments also reflect the findings of the U.S. Department of Energy report from 2015, which found that at that time 70 percent of power transformers were 25 years or older, while 70 percent of transmission lines were a quarter-century or longer.
Source: EIA