A Kilowatt-hour, Up or Down?

May 12's Consumer Price Index shows that what American consumers paid for a kilowatt-hour rose an average of 3.6 percent over the twelve months through April. This high a rate of inflation in electricity isn’t surprising since natural gas prices have been rising in recent months. Gas prices matter a lot in what electricity costs.

Though what American consumers paid for all goods and services rose an average of 4.2 percent over the twelve months through April. That’s a higher overall rate of inflation than electricity’s rate. So in real inflation-adjusted terms, the average price of a kilowatt-hour is actually not rising but dropping.