Hybrid vehicle sales continue to rise as electric and plug-in vehicle shares remain flat
About 22% of light-duty vehicles sold in the first quarter of the year in the United States were hybrid, battery electric, or plug-in hybrid vehicles, up from about 18% in the first quarter of 2024. Among those categories, hybrid electric vehicles have continued to gain market share while battery electric vehicles and plug-in hybrid vehicles have remained relatively flat, according to estimates from Wards Intelligence.
U.S. hydropower generation expected to rise in 2025 following last year’s relative low
We expect U.S. hydropower generation will increase by 7.5% in 2025 but will remain 2.4% below the 10-year average in our May Short-Term Energy Outlook (STEO). Hydropower generation in 2024 fell to 241 billion kilowatthours (BkWh), the lowest since at least 2010; in 2025, we expect generation will be 259.1 BkWh. This amount of generation would represent 6% of the electricity generation in the country.
U.S. hydropower generation expected to rise by 7% in 2025 following last year’s record low
We expect U.S. hydropower generation will increase by 7.5% in 2025 but will remain 2.4% below the 10-year average in our May Short-Term Energy Outlook (STEO). Hydropower generation in 2024 fell to 241 billion kilowatthours (BkWh), the lowest since at least 2010; in 2025, we expect generation will be 259.1 BkWh. This amount of generation would represent 6% of the electricity generation in the country.
Forecast wholesale power prices and retail electricity prices rise modestly in 2025
In our January Short-Term Energy Outlook (STEO), we expect that U.S. wholesale power prices will average slightly higher in 2025 in most U.S. regions than last year, except in Texas and in the Northwest. We forecast that the 11 wholesale prices we track in STEO will average $40 per megawatthour (MWh) in 2025 (weighted by demand), up 7% from 2024. We expect the 2025 average U.S. residential electricity price will be 2% higher than the 2024 average, though after accounting for inflation, our forecast for U.S. residential prices remains relatively unchanged from 2024.