Electricity Prices Keep Climbing. Leading Organizations Are Acting Now.

A data-driven look at where commercial electricity costs are headed — and why leading corporations, nonprofits, and institutions are locking in solar to get ahead of it.

+21%

Rise in U.S. electricity rates
over the past 5 years

+8.5%

Additional wholesale price
increase forecast for 2026

$0

Fuel cost per kWh for solar.
Utilities would charge for sunshine too — some are already trying.

Part 1 The Price Forecast Is Unambiguous

U.S. Energy Information Administration.

“Retail electricity prices have increased faster than the rate of inflation since 2022, and we expect them to continue increasing through 2026.”

The EIA — the federal government’s own energy authority — projects wholesale prices reaching $51/MWh in 2026, an 8.5% jump over already-elevated 2025 levels.

→ EIA.gov: Electricity Price Outlook

Electric Choice / EIA Data

U.S. electricity rates have climbed 21% in five years — and the pace is accelerating.

From 14.92¢/kWh in 2022 to 18.05¢/kWh in 2026. Year-over-year increases: +6.2% (2023), +4.9% (2024), and +5.4% in 2026 — reversing a brief slowdown.

→ ElectricChoice.com: Rates by State

Utility Dive — Nov. 2025

“Electricity Prices to Continue Rise in 2026” — with commercial demand leading growth.

EIA projects commercial sector electricity demand growing 6% by summer 2027, driven by data centers, grid upgrades, and industrial expansion — all costs passed to ratepayers.

→ UtilityDive.com: 2026 Forecast

Energy Professionals — Jan. 2026

Natural gas costs nearly doubled in two years — and electricity prices follow.

Henry Hub natural gas spot price rose from $2.20/MMBtu in 2024 to a projected $4.80 in 2026. Because gas still powers a significant share of U.S. generation, your electricity bill tracks this directly.

→ EnergyProfessionals.com: 2026 Analysis

What’s driving the increase

Aging grid infrastructure requiring billions in upgrades
Explosive data center & AI electricity demand
Surging LNG export volumes tightening domestic gas supply
Extreme weather hardening costs passed to ratepayers
Capacity auction prices up 830% in PJM markets (2025–2026)
Increases are compounding — not one-time events

Part 02 How Leading Organizations Are Responding

Solar Dukan / Fortune 500 Analysis — Feb. 2026

“The Corporate Green Rush: Fortune 500s Moving to On-Site Solar to Dodge Rising Energy Costs.”

As energy prices continue to climb, large enterprises are treating solar not as a sustainability initiative — but as a core financial strategy to protect margins and gain cost predictability.

→ SolarDukan.com: Corporate Green Rush

SEPA — Smart Electric Power Alliance

Power Purchase Agreements let organizations lock in a fixed electricity rate for 20–25 years — immune to grid volatility.

Large energy users including Fortune 500 companies, universities, healthcare systems, and mission-critical facilities are signing long-term PPAs to hedge price volatility while generating renewable energy credits.

→ SEPAPower.org: Fortune 500 & Renewables

Amazon

500+ MW of on-site solar installed across fulfillment centers — explicitly as a hedge against rising energy prices

Apple

Apple Park runs on 100% renewable energy, anchored by on-site solar — setting the bar for commercial real estate

Target

500+ locations with rooftop solar; building New York’s largest rooftop array to eliminate the electric bill at one distribution center

Microsoft

Committed to 10.5 GW of new renewable capacity to power data centers and operations at predictable, fixed costs

Georgia Companies — Confirmed Solar Installations & Commitments

Your neighbors are already doing it. Georgia-headquartered and Georgia-operating companies are locking in solar across their campuses, stores, and data centers.

Delta Air Lines →
3.7 MW rooftop solar installed at Atlanta HQ campus in 2024; covers 60% of campus electricity consumption
Meta →
435+ MW across six Georgia solar farms powering its Newton County data center at 100% renewable energy
The Home Depot →
Atlanta HQ; rooftop solar on 80+ stores nationally, fuel cells at 200+ locations; targeting 100% renewable electricity by 2030
UPS →
Atlanta HQ; solar at facilities across the U.S. with a target of 25% renewable energy by 2025 and 100% by 2035
Walmart →
600+ renewable energy projects nationally; committed to 1 GW of on-site solar and 10 GW total clean energy by 2030
Cox Enterprises →
Atlanta HQ; 29 MW across ~30 solar installations nationally including four Georgia solar farms; motivated explicitly by energy cost hedging
Coca-Cola →
Atlanta HQ; solar installations across global bottling facilities; RE100 member committed to 100% renewable energy

“What we are seeing in 2026 is that business owners are not asking whether solar makes sense anymore. They are asking why they waited. Every year they did not act, their utility bill went up, and the payback period on a solar system got shorter.”

— Taha Masood, Solar Installation Executive, via EDUCBA Energy Report →

Energy Tech — TIME’s Most Impactful Companies 2026

Institutions leading on energy — universities, healthcare systems, military facilities, and nonprofits — are all accelerating on-site solar and storage.
These mission-critical organizations share a common priority: cost predictability. Rising grid prices threaten operating budgets and program delivery. On-site solar, combined with available incentives including the §48E Investment Tax Credit and §6417 Direct Pay for tax-exempt entities, makes the economics compelling today — regardless of organization type.

→ EnergyTech.com: Institutions Going Solar

Part 03 Georgia Commercial Customers: In the Bull’s-Eye

Georgia PSC — Approved July 2025 · Atlanta Civic Circle

Georgia Power’s residential base rates are frozen through 2028. Fuel costs are not.

The Georgia PSC approved a three-year base rate freeze in July 2025 — a political win for homeowners. But the freeze covers only the base rate. Fuel Cost Recovery (FCR), storm cost recovery, and other riders are explicitly excluded and filed separately. Georgia Power has already scheduled fuel cost and storm cost adjustments for 2026. Rising natural gas prices driven by international conflict flow directly through the FCR rider — and that rider is not frozen.

→ Atlanta Civic Circle: The Rate Freeze’s Fine Print

Daily Energy Insider — FCR-27 Hearing, May 2026

The current filing “masks a 25% increase in projected fuel costs driven by surging commercial and industrial load.”

Georgia Power’s 27th Fuel Cost Recovery filing was heard by the PSC on May 5–6, 2026. Commissioners pressed the company on whether large commercial users — particularly data centers — are paying their fair share of rising fuel costs. The answer, advocates argued, is no.

→ Daily Energy Insider: FCR-27 Hearing Summary

Georgia Recorder — May 2026

Commercial customers pay fuel costs in real time — separately from the blended residential rate — leaving them fully exposed to spot market volatility.
Unlike residential customers who pay a smoothed, PSC-approved FCR rate, most large commercial and industrial customers pay fuel costs in real time. Fixed infrastructure costs appear elsewhere on their bills. With residential rates politically shielded, fuel cost pressure lands harder on commercial accounts.

→ Georgia Recorder: Who Pays for the Data Center Boom?

Alt Energy SE — April 2026

The residential freeze was made possible by data center revenue — the same commercial load now driving up fuel costs.

Georgia Power’s rate freeze was granted in part because surging data center growth is generating new commercial revenue. But that same load is driving a 25% increase in projected fuel costs. The math is straightforward: residential customers are shielded by the freeze, international conflict is pushing natural gas prices higher, and commercial customers — paying fuel in real time — absorb the difference. Solar locks in your energy cost today, before the next FCR adjustment.

→ AltEnergySE: The Truth Behind Georgia Power’s Rate Freeze

Commercial & Institutional Energy Solutions