Maine has far and away the fastest rising electricity bills in the country.
New numbers compiled by Axios from the U.S. Energy Information Administration show an increase of 36.3 percent between May of 2024 and 2025.
The hike is about double the rate in New Hampshire (+18.4 percent), which has the second fastest increasing electricity rates.
The rise in Maine is also almost six times higher than the average increase across the nation of 6.5 percent.
Axios links the increase to the spread of energy guzzling data centers, although devastating storms have led to utility hikes in Maine.
Central Maine Power electricity bills have risen several times in recent months and years, with the utility blaming the hikes on storms that were “historic in scale,” including those that caused widespread flooding and power outages in 2023 and 2024.
CMP rates went up an average of $5 a month for residential customers last month. The average CMP customer bill rose from almost $139 in July of 2024 to more than $154.50 last month.
Central Maine is now asking state regulators for permission to increase its revenue by between $405 million and $455 million from 2026 to 2031. The company is linking the proposed increase to efforts to improvements in transmission lines and boost its workforce to protect against damage from future disasters.
