Between 2021 and 2024, major investor-owned electric utilities in the United States recorded approximately $186 billion in total profit. This massive sum represents a significant portion of what households and businesses pay for electricity, according to the authors of the newly released report.
The report states that “between 2021 and 2024 alone, those utilities reported approximately $186 billion in profit.” It further notes that “utilities retained an average of 12.8 percent of their revenue as profit” during this four-year span.
This means that for every dollar a customer paid on their electric bill, about 13 cents went directly to company earnings rather than toward the actual costs of generating or delivering power. While people often blame rising bills on the cost of fuel or new equipment, a large and growing chunk of that money is simply being kept as a reward for the private investors who own these utility companies.
The Energy & Policy Institute released its report “Paying for Their Profits: How Ratepayers Foot the Bill for Soaring Utility Profits” in March 2026. Authored by Daniel Tait, Sue Sturgis, and Shelby Green, the analysis tracks financial data from over 100 investor-owned utilities to reveal the significant role corporate returns play in driving up household electricity costs.
