California is struggling with an affordability crisis, and in recent weeks, the focus has turned to the state’s soaring electricity rates. With policymakers concerned that high costs might encourage residents to leave the state and pose financial burdens for those who remain, the Legislative Analyst’s Office has called for solutions and the legislature is holding hearings. How much does electricity cost consumers, which consumers are hurting the most, and how does it compare to other significant cost drivers like housing?

California has long had high electricity rates. Since the late 1980s, the price has been at least 10% higher than in the country as a whole. But rates have surged dramatically in recent years, from about a third higher than the national average in 2015 to over 80% higher last year. Possible explanations for these higher rates include the state’s ambitious climate change policies, subsidies for rooftop solar and low-income customers, recent wildfires, and pricing by investor-owned utilities.

But Californians also use far less electricity. While per capita sales to residential users have steadily climbed in the US as a whole, California’s have not changed much since the late 1970s. They now sit at half the level of the US overall. Explanations differ here as well, with some crediting the state’s pioneering energy efficiency regulations and others the state’s demography and temperate climate. California’s utilities also point to lower consumption as one reason for higher rates, since similar infrastructure costs must be covered with less revenue.

For many years, lower consumption easily trumped higher rates for most Californians. Monthly electricity costs for the median California consumer were $15 to $20 lower than in other states (adjusted for inflation) throughout the 1980s, 1990s, and early 2000s. But since 2015, the surge in rates has outpaced lower consumption, pushing bills higher. Median bills are now comparable between California and the rest of the country.

Soaring electricity costs affect lower-income residents the most, since they are least able to manage the expense; this same group of Californians have also been most likely to leave the state. California has programs meant to shift costs from lower- to higher-income customers, but they have done little to shield lower-income customers from the recent cost surge.

Since 2015, the median monthly electricity bill for lower-income California renters has outpaced inflation by $14—almost as much as for middle-income ($17) and higher-income ($18) renters. (Lower-income Californians earn less than 200% of the poverty line, middle-income residents earn between 200% and 500%, and higher-income residents earn over 500%.)

Electricity costs for homeowners have gone up even more. Among homeowners, the surge in costs has outpaced inflation by about $21 for all income levels.

Despite surging electricity rates, housing costs remain the main driver of California’s affordability crisis. Since 2015, monthly rent has outpaced inflation by $88 for lower-income, $97 for middle-income, and $134 for higher-income Californians—six or seven times the growth for electricity. Over the same period, median homeownership costs for new buyers have outpaced inflation by almost $300 a month. And while the state’s electricity costs are now comparable with the nation’s, California’s rent is about 50% higher than in the rest of the country and its houses cost about twice as much.

Nevertheless, rate increases for electricity do play a major role in lost affordability. For the 56% of California households who own their home, increases have been especially large; for renters, who are more likely to be lower income, higher electricity costs compound the housing affordability crisis. As consumers confront higher prices for a wide range of essential goods, electricity has been a critical pain point—and the fast pace of cost increases raises questions about when it might stop.