Their electric bills hit record highs this summer, from the Main Line to the Jersey Shore

When Jennifer Frankel received her electric bill in August, she was floored.

She and her husband owed Peco about $470 for the monthlong stretch that spanned parts of July and August. She said it was the highest electric bill she can ever recall since moving into their Bryn Mawr home 15 years ago.

Given the rising prices on many other necessities, like groceries, “I really was just like, ‘Oh, this is our new normal,’” said Frankel, 55.

She and her husband, who works in sales, can afford to pay the bill, she said. They chalked it up to multiple heat waves, and their preference to sleep in the cold, she said. They’re crossing their fingers for cooler fall weather.

But, she added, “If it keeps going up, that’s a problem.”

Electricity prices nationwide rose twice as fast as overall inflation between July 2024 and July 2025, according to the latest Consumer Price Index.

In Pennsylvania, the residential price for a kilowatt-hour of electricity rose about 11% between June 2024 and June 2025, the latest month for which data was available from the U.S. Energy Information Administration.

Over the same period, New Jersey residents saw a 25% increase in electricity prices, according to the federal data.

Pennsylvania’s increase was nearly double the national average during that time; New Jersey’s jump was more than quadruple it.

Spokespeople for Peco, which serves 1.7 million electric customers in Southeastern Pennsylvania, and Atlantic City Electric, which has 556,000 customers in South Jersey, said some customers have seen higher bills this summer, with year-over-year increases in line with the federal data. (PSE&G did not respond to The Inquirer’s request for usage data by Wednesday afternoon).

The issue has become political in the Garden State. Both candidates in the upcoming gubernatorial election are campaigning on promises to lower utility costs, and Gov. Phil Murphy recently announced $100 in direct relief to all 3.9 million electric customers in New Jersey.

National industry experts have attributed rising electric prices to a variety of factors, including AI data centers that are straining the power grid.

For lower-income households and people on fixed incomes, the ramifications have been especially devastating: Some seniors in Florida were left to choose between paying the bills or paying for medications, NPR recently reported.

Even middle-income and wealthier households are feeling squeezed.

In Ocean City, N.J., Michael Maioriello said his family received a $996 Atlantic City Electric bill in August for a six-bedroom vacation home that sits empty most weekdays. Combined with a $710 bill they got in July, they paid about $1,700 for the heart of the summer.

Maioriello, 60, a tobacco company manager who lives in Middlesex, N.J., when not down the Shore, said his summer electric bills in Ocean City usually fall between $200 and $400 a month.

“I’m almost frightened to see what the September bill is going to be,” Maioriello said.

Higher electric bills have shocked residents from the western suburbs to the Jersey Shore.

In Drexel Hill, Mary Jackson said she received a $425 Peco bill in August. Before then, she said, the highest electric bill they had ever received was about $325.

“I wasn’t shocked, because I saw someone say that there was going to be an increase, but I wasn’t pleased,” said Jackson, 29, who nannies and works for her husband’s plumbing company. “I already felt like it was really expensive” for a 1,400-square-foot home.

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Jackson said she felt resigned, unsure what more she and her husband can do to save money. They are out of the house working 12 hours a day, she said, and keep the air conditioner set at 74. In the heat of summer, Jackson said she wouldn’t be comfortable sleeping with the temperature much higher.

“We are just sticking it out and waiting for the cooler months,” she said. “I can’t imagine what it’s like for other people who aren’t as fortunate.”

In Somers Point, Robin Minichino, a 63-year-old marketing and sales professional, said she thought she had insulated herself from high electric bills when she and her husband bought solar panels about five years ago.

But then in August they received a $411 bill from Atlantic City Electric. In more than 30 years at that home, she said she couldn’t recall receiving an electric bill for higher than $200 before this summer.

“I just wish we had better answers as to why. I’m worried that this is going to be the norm,” she said. “You’ve got to have electricity. What are you going to do?”

Minichino breathed a sigh of relief when she got her latest bill. It was $132.

In Bryn Mawr, Frankel also just received her latest bill. It was $362, down from $473 the prior month, but still higher than the $292 she paid for the same period last year.

During the recent autumn-like stretches, she hasn’t been using the air-conditioning as much. So hopefully, she added, next month’s bill will be less.

The local utilities are aware of price increases, and say they are taking steps to ease the burden on customers.

This summer, Peco residential customers paid $200 a month on average, which is on par with what they paid last summer, according to spokesperson Candice Womer. Average usage dropped slightly compared to 2024, decreasing to 942 kWh from 1,005 kWh.

» READ MORE: What Peco’s new CEO has to say about your electric bill, AI data centers, and coal in Pa.

While customers’ usage from June to August this year was lower than four of the past five years (all but 2023), there were sweltering stretches. For example, Womer said, Peco recorded its third highest usage ever on June 24, when temperatures in Philly reached triple digits for the first time in 13 years.

“These elevated usage patterns, combined with higher supply rates that took effect on June 1, contributed to noticeable bill impacts for many customers,” Womer said. “Each customer’s bill is unique and can vary [based on their] energy use, how energy efficient their home or business is, [and] their energy supplier.”

From June through August, Atlantic City Electric residential customers used 874 kWh on average, a slight decrease from summer 2024, during which the average usage was 925 kWh, said spokesperson Brian Ahrens. As a result, customers paid on average about $243.12 per month, slightly less than the previous summer.

The average $243 bill includes $30 deferred bill credits in July and August, Ahrens said, and consists of a $157 supply charge and an $83 delivery charge.

“While these figures represent average usage, customers may use more during due to increased cooling needs, electric vehicle ownership, and other factors,” Ahrens said.