Electricity is Unaffordable; that was the plan, and the numbers confirm it

“Affordability” has become a political buzz word in recent times, starting with Democrats in November 2025 and then later adopted by Republicans by at least March of this year. As Democrat pollster Geoff Garin put it:

“The word’s important, because it speaks to the real-world challenge that Americans feel — it’s hard for them to afford the things that they consider essential to a middle-class standard of living.”

Electricity plays both a direct and indirect role in affordability. The indirect role is that it is an input cost into almost everything, especially in the digital age. As world-renowned energy expert Dr. Henry Linden once said:

“Gross domestic product (GDP) per capita, life expectancy and literacy correlate closely with primary energy and electricity consumption, as does energy scarcity with poverty and environmental degradation.”

The direct role is found in the prices and bills paid by residential, commercial and industrial customers for electricity use. These direct factors are, of course, the origins for the indirect.

Electricity by the numbers

The Energy Information Administration (EIA) is the best source for electricity affordability numbers in Minnesota, the Midwest (MW) and the United States (US). This is even more the case given the discontinuation, by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) from 2025 onwards, of electricity consumer price index (CPI) at metro and regional levels.

EIA publishes electricity data for: sales (MWh) back to 1960; revenue ($000) back to 1970; price (¢/kWh) back to 1970; and customers (count) back to 1984. This is for every state, including the MW, and for the US as a whole, all of which in terms of residential, commercial, industrial and total customer classes.

Source: BLS map of the Midwest (MW) statistical region

Electricity prices are up

The first chart below shows the average electricity price in cents per kilowatt-hour (¢/kWh) for total MN customers from 1970 to 2025. That total includes residential, commercial and industrial. MN inflation was: 169% for 1970 to 1983 (from 2.06 to 5.55); 12% for 1984 to 2001 (from 5.33 to 5.97); and 118% for 2002 to 2025 (from 5.80 to 12.67).

By comparison in the second chart below, MW electricity price inflation was: 199% for 1970 to 1983 (from 2.01 to 6.00); 1.5% for 1984 to 2001 (from 5.93 to 6.02); and 96% for 2002 to 2025 (from 6.03 to 11.83). And US inflation was: 273% for 1970 to 1983 (from 1.68 to 6.26); 17% for 1984 to 2001 (from 6.25 to 7.29); and 89% for 2002 to 2025 (from 7.20 to 13.63).

Electricity use is down

The third chart below presents average electricity use in kWh per customer for total MN customers from 1984 to 2025. In between 1984 and 2007, usage grew by +25% (from 21,417 to 26,841). In between 2008 and 2025, usage shrunk by -17% (from 26,876 to 22,375).

By comparison in the fourth chart below, for the MW: usage grew by +24% between 1984 and 2007 (from 22,517 to 27,933); and shrunk by -7.1% between 2008 and 2025 (from 27,550 to 25,589). And as for the US: usage grew by +14% between 1984 and 2007 (from 23,215 to 26,488); and shrunk by -5.3% between 2008 and 2025 (from 27,550 to 25,589).

Electricity bills are unaffordable

The fifth chart below displays the average electricity bill in dollars per customer for total MN customers from 1984 to 2025. Unaffordability rose by: 40% between 1984 and 2004 (from $1,142 to $1,601); and 61% between 2005 and 2025 (from $1,764 to $2,834).

By comparison in the sixth chart below, MW unaffordability increased by: 26% between 1984 and 2004 (from $1,373 to $1,735); and 74% between 2005 and 2025 (from $1,846 to $3,212). US unaffordability inflated by: 26% between 1984 and 2004 (from $1,451 to $1,984); and 56% between 2005 and 2025 (from $2,154 to $3,363).

Unaffordable electricity was planned

As the numbers above demonstrate, Minnesota’s electricity prices have inflated more since 2002 than the rest of the Midwest and country by 22% and 29% respectively. Also since then, MN electricity use has shrunk further by a 9.9% and 12% compared to the MW and US. Thus, resulting in MN electricity bill unaffordability of 5% worse than the nation, but somewhat counterintuitively, 13% less bad than the MW.*

The main cause of electricity unaffordability in this state is renewables i.e wind and solar power. MN started earlier than most in 2001, and then ramped up much faster. It is a myth that renewables are cheaper than coal, natural gas or nuclear. Renewables are far more expensive. And not only in a direct sense through unreliable power generation, but also indirectly in expanded network capacity.

The key means for electricity unaffordability, where the rubber (of higher prices and lower use) meets the road (of bigger bills and increasing unaffordability), is the Public Utilities Commission (PUC) system. The three legs of this system are state government, franchise monopolies and renewable lobbyists.

Making electricity affordable again in Minnesota will require serious reform of, not just the wind and solar mandates, but of the PUC and monopoly mandates as well. Any such reform will not be easy because unaffordable electricity is not just the means but the ends.

“Under my plan … electricity rates would necessarily skyrocket.” – Barack Obama

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* An electricity bill is comprised of price times use. MW bills are worse over time than MN ones because use went down by enough more in MN than in the MW. This reveals the perversity of the Obama Skyrocket Plan. At some point, high enough prices can start to relatively reduce bills by choking off use, thus, resulting in greater energy poverty.

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