The latest Momentum Q1 2026 report finds that gas utility bills in 2025 outpaced both electricity prices and inflation. The primary driver isn’t commodity volatility but sustained investment in pipeline replacement and distribution systems.
These costs now make up roughly two-thirds of a typical household gas bill, signaling a structural shift in how energy is priced. Since 2010, utility spending on gas infrastructure has more than tripled. The report estimates that without this accelerated buildout, U.S. consumers could have avoided over $130 billion in cumulative costs.
The implications for businesses are direct. As utilities continue to recover capital expenditures through rate structures, ongoing infrastructure expansion is expected to add tens of billions more in lifetime costs. This raises questions about how long legacy gas systems remain economically viable, particularly as utilization rates decline in some regions.
At the same time, state-level policy is increasingly aligned around electrification as both a cost-management and decarbonization strategy.
California is moving to streamline heat pump permitting while testing tariff-on-bill financing through investor-owned utilities. Massachusetts is evaluating new rate designs tied to energy burden, alongside proposals to introduce geothermal service models. In New York, regulators have committed roughly $1 billion annually through 2030 to support building electrification and efficiency programs. Minnesota lawmakers are also weighing frameworks for thermal energy networks.
This policy momentum is mirrored in the market. Heat pumps outsold gas furnaces for the fourth consecutive year in 2025 and, for the first time, exceeded air conditioner sales on a monthly basis. The shift reflects changing contractor practices and growing consumer adoption.
Utilities are beginning to adapt their strategies as well. One Oklahoma-based electric cooperative has avoided rate increases for nearly a decade by promoting geothermal heat pump installations, improving load management and reducing peak demand pressures.
For companies operating across real estate, construction, and energy, the direction of travel is becoming clearer. Rising costs tied to gas infrastructure, combined with supportive policy and shifting market demand, are accelerating the transition toward electric-based building systems. The result is a changing cost landscape—one where long-term planning increasingly hinges on how quickly organizations adapt to the economics of electrification.
