Hawaii and California have the highest rates. Idaho the lowest.
Average Residential Electricity Rates by State
Payless Power has an interesting infographic on 2025 Residential Electricity Rates by State
The residential electricity rates listed below are shown in cents per kilowatt-hour (kWh), a measurement that indicates the amount of energy used that is equal to consuming 1000 watts per hour. On average, U.S. residents consume around 887 kWh per month [Mish note that is a 2022 average], which is then multiplied by the rate to determine overall electricity cost. Along with the current rates, the table also provides rates for the previous year and the percentage of increase or decrease of the rate change.
Variability of Electricity Rates by State
Over time, state electricity rates may be subject to changes that cause them to move up and down within rankings. Some trends remain the same, even with these movements, with the most remote or densely populated areas often the costliest.
Other influences on cost include weather conditions, as areas with severe heat or cold are susceptible to energy-use spikes based on how residents to counteract the climate. Often that can mean tapping into a home’s heating and cooling capabilities, which presents the greatest energy cost for homes nationwide. Other chart averages can be impacted by statewide rate adjustments, which can be particularly sensitive to the swings that often occur.
How Texas Compares
According to the EIA chart, Texas residents are right in the middle of the pack. At an average price of 15.45 per kWh, Texas ranks 22nd in terms of average price per kWh. While that might not seem impressive, it is when you consider that Texas is a high energy consumption state. The hot climate and population size play a big role in consumption and power demand, yet we pay less than other Southern states like Alabama and Florida.
Electricity Cost 10 Highest States
Electricity Cost 10 Lowest States
Be Prepared to Keep Paying More for Electricity
The Wall Street Journal says Be Prepared to Keep Paying More for Electricity
Its tables of prices are from 2024 so the above information is more recent. But here are a few snips.
Most Americans are paying more for electricity—and need to prepare their wallets for further pain ahead.
Data centers are getting much of the blame lately for rising power costs, but they aren’t the only catalyst and don’t always cause increases. The reasons our bills are rising are complex and varied. Hurricanes, wildfires, state renewable-energy plans and the replacement of aging or damaged grid equipment are all playing a role.
Discontent over rising power bills has become a hot political issue that is expected to spill into the 2026 midterm elections.
“I do think that we’re entering a new era, a new politics of electricity,” said Charles Hua, executive director of PowerLines, a nonprofit that advocates for utility customers.
The Energy Department expects the U.S. average residential electricity rate to rise around 4% next year following a 4.9% increase in 2025. Spending on power is usually the second-biggest energy-related expense for consumers after gasoline.
The cost of electricity generally has moved higher with inflation, but it began outstripping other cost increases in 2022, when natural-gas prices soared after Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
Outsize price shocks haven’t been universal. Customers in most U.S. states saw electricity-price increases that were lower than inflation from 2019 to 2024, according to a study led by Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory.
Electricity prices played a pivotal role in the New Jersey governor’s race this past fall. Democrat Mikie Sherrill, who prevailed, called for freezing rates, though such a move would be complex. Garden State residential rates climbed 21% in September from the previous year, according to the Energy Department.
In Georgia, voter anger over rate increases was a factor that helped two Democrats unseat Republican incumbents on the state’s utility commission.
Power bills include the costs of generating electricity and delivering it by high-voltage transmission lines and distribution lines in cities. Regulation regarding pricing typically happens at the state level.
Shifting factors such as fuel prices and temperatures affect customer bills, and so do storms and wildfires that damage infrastructure.
This winter, for instance, home-heating costs are projected to jump 9% to about $995 for the season running from November to March. That is up from a year earlier owing to colder-than-usual weather and rising natural-gas and electricity prices, according to the National Energy Assistance Directors’ Association.
As for infrastructure, investor-owned utilities are projected to invest $1.1 trillion in transmission and distribution systems, generation, and gas-delivery lines between 2025 and 2029, twice as much as they spent in the previous 10 years, according to Edison Electric Institute, a utility trade group. Costs are typically approved by regulators and recovered from various types of customers over time.
Next year, regions projected to see at least a 5% rate increase include a swath of the East Coast from New York to Florida, along with other states from Wisconsin and Illinois to West Virginia, according to the Energy Department.
“We’re in a period of general inflation and rate rise, and that’s just attracting a lot of attention and getting a lot of pushback by regulators that are intent on keeping energy costs low,” said Jim McMahon, head of the energy practice at Charles River Associates, a consulting firm.
Residential customers in California felt the most pain over the period of the study: an inflation-adjusted price increase of 35%. Wildfire mitigation and insurance was the biggest contributor. Another was the rooftop-solar and utility credits offered to homeowners for the electricity they added to the grid. That shifted more system costs to other customers.
Issues Impacting Price
- Storms, fires, hurricanes
- State of the grid in each state
- Politics, especially green energy
- Temperature
- Insurance costs
- Solar energy credits
- AI demand
Related Posts
September 7, 2025: Electricity Costs Are Soaring and AI Will Make Matters Worse
Electricity demand for AI data centers is soaring. The result won’t be pretty.
December 3, 2025: Electricity Costs Surge 6.7 Percent from Year Ago, Residential Consumers Hammered
Expect a backlash. Residential customers pay double the industrial rate.
Consumers don’t care why. They are just fed up with the hikes.
NY state fee’s on PSEG and homeowners have raised rates to .307 cents per kWh.
Actual gas costs remain very close to previous years. And going down.
Bills are up 19% since 2023. With increase expected for 2026.
Signing up for Time of Day rates with the most restrictive hours estimates a discount of $56 a year. Or about a dollar a week.
NY is truly the Tax State.
I think consideration of the generation method needs to be considered for complete analysis of the end user cost. California, one of the highest cost states is removing all hydroelectric dams on the Klamath river. So, the high front end cost has already been spent, and the dams generate electricity efficiently plus the reservoirs provide water storage for agriculture, industry and domestic use. California has water shortage issues and high electric power cost, so the remedy is to pay to remove infrastructure that supports that need. Go figure.
Phx, Az
On peak summer rate .43 per kwh
Super off-peak winter rate .04.5 per kwh
Peak rates are 5pm to 8am. weekdays. People get home from work, cook dinner, run the a/c, take showers, dishwashing, and use hot water.
There is a mid-rate, which changes by season, and is stable on the weekends. The weekends are when families do laundry and lots of cooking.
None of the above includes the base service fees, taxes, and other junk fees.
paying for electricity is similar to a restaurant bill.
there is the menu price which does not include:
taxes, tips, or other surcharges which add up
to your cost being ~30% higher than the menu.
A generalized output of Indiana state looks great on that map, as usual, it’s midline. But, dig a little deeper into the Evansville energy bills, I implore you to show people how bad it can get. The providing energy company there used to be called Vectren, and when I lived there, I kept every bill payment receipt from them because I was convinced they’d eventually be caught in some kind of crime. They bled that turnip till that 2009(?) ice storm hit and everyone finally realized they never took care of their power lines, poles, or took preventative measures to keep from having expensive repairs. The campaign was on to save face, soooo they changed up and now go by Centerpoint Energy. This year, the energy bills have gotten so bad that people have been posting comparison bills on social media about it. Centerpoint is trying to mitigate it with meetings and the like. Their damage control effort isn’t that great as I think I saw where some angry consumers were thrown out of the meetings or arrested. Pretty sure Evansville rates are up there with CA. How does anyone cough up the money for such outrageous utility costs every month and not feel defeated is beyond me. I felt violated every time I paid Vectren, that’s for sure.
Evansville’s electricity rates range from 15 cents per kwh to 18.5 cents according to Google’s AI. I can’t remember when I paid such low rates in CA (PG&E).
Same with pge. All the higher ups retired oh some 13 or so years ago. Record profits etc. same same neglecting infrastructure. Combed with fire risk increase. Same story.
Imo if there is not an option should not be privately owned.
Plus should not be allowed to contribute to politicians.
The rates for CA seem a bit off, or maybe only showing the lowest off-peak rates. Here is the rate card from PGE. residential-electric-rate-plan-pricing.pdf
23 solar panels — I pay $0.00.
Ah you paid up front.
WAY CHEAPER and not subject to the caprices of SCE.
18.6 in Florida
10.2 In Michigan
9.8 in Illinois
14.4 in Wisconsin
41cents per KWH in the US Virgin Islands
That’s only because shipping diesel fuel for the generators by ocean-going tanker is so cost effective.
Duh!
Not!
The Virgin Islands are beat to shit these daze…
😉
The coop has a stated rate but then they add on a Power Cost Adjustment opaque to the customer and a Demand Charge for using more than a candle’s worth of power between 5-8 M-F. Add in the facility charge, which, contrary to MPO45v2’s comment about rurual rates, costs more for this part of rural America as the costs have to cover many miles of infrastructure spread over fewer paying subs–we don’t get to allocate it to other states or urban areas lol. My rate is 18.1c/KwH and matches closely to the map. However the point of my comment is the actual rate / KwH vs the published rate are not in alignment. Even if one removes the facility charge, these power cost adjustments and demand charges, like “fuel surcharges” are opaque and seem to never go away regardless of economic conditions–so my rate is 18.1c/Kwh in rural Wisconsin. Knowing the waste of cryptocurrencies and lower rates for businesses it’s hard to watch consumer rates continue to be under pressure and will become a major friction point going forward.
Thank you Bill!
Yes, what I care about is my cost per kilowatt hour DELIVERD AND TAXED, ALL IN, at the side of my home. I do not care about commerce commission rate BS, or adjustments (?), or any of the many other BS’es..
I currently use power from a coop, too. I can figure out the approximate unbilled cost by adding $100 to the base charged amount. All those added on charges for facility and adjusted costs are just another way to say that the base rate isn’t covering it all for them. The nickel & diming everything is annoying.
con ed: $0.3016 energy + delivery rural NE state: 0.215 all in
People need to be careful in specifying what they pay. Some companies give an all in price, others, like ConEd in the nyc metro area give two pieces – one for the energy itself (generation) and another for delivery (often slightly higher). They do the same thing with natural gas, energy + delivery.
Get ready for the ‘loading fee” and the “preparation fee” and don’t forget the “your share of our office supplies fee”
A correlation of electricity costs with “green” mandates would be instructive.
My state government requires the utility to use unreliable and expensive solar/wind to generate almost 20% of its electricity, rather than the clean, inexpensive natural gas the utility would use if allowed to.
Good luck with that.
I would love to see a lot of new natural gas generation in the US. Unfortunately, there is a 3-5 year wait list for natural gas turbines. Which is why the US is only adding 3-5 GW of natural gas generation each year.
Instead, we are adding a lot of Solar (33 GW) and onshore wind (3 GW) because they are actually cheaper and more readily available compared to natural gas.
Much cheaper.
In fact, they are infinitely cheaper when there’s no sun and the air is calm.
Not to mention, Trump’s passion for nearly free gas at the pump, Venezuela style, will soon take NG production offline if crude keeps dropping. Gee why could the Saudi’s ever allow this to transpire?
Solar/wind being cheaper is impossible. It never replaces reliable sources like nat gas, but is supplemental to and an added expense. And are you measuring the costs of the massive taxpayer subsidies? That isn’t free.
This is not a US issue. Nor is it a subsidy issue. It is simply reality.
I suggest you look up the LCOE for all generation sources. Solar and onshore wind are the cheapest. Followed by natural gas.
Which is why the majority of new electricity generation worldwide is solar and wind.
In 2024 the US added 31 GW of solar, 3 GW of wind, 3 GW of natural gas, 1 GW of nuclear. (note that even Texas added 10 GW of solar in 2024)
In 2024, China added 277 GW of solar, 79 GW of wind, 14 GW of hydro, 4 GW of nuclear, 18 GW (net) of coal and 0 GW of natural gas.
In 2024 the worldwide total was 585 GW of new electricity generation, of which over 90% was solar and wind.
There is a reason for that. Solar and wind are cheaper and easier to build.
I am not against natural gas generation. I would love to see more of it. I would like to see more nuclear as well. But I don’t get to choose.
I merely observe reality.
What cost so you attach to the environment scar to the planet that wind and solar farms constitute via ugly, massive land consumption and mining requirements?
That aside, the analysis I’ve read assesses wind and solar to be much more expensive.
You’re kidding right? Have you ever seen hundreds of acres of oil pump jacks that scar the landscape? Now that’s an ugly site with environmental disaster written all over it. And there are over 800,000 of them in the US.
Regardless, all forms of energy generation have a cost.
And whatever “analysis” you have read flies in face of what is actually happening all over the world. So I wouldn’t place much faith in it.
If solar and wind were expensive, they wouldn’t be used to generate over 90% of all new electricity worldwide
Are you living in a fairy tale? Wind provides 8% and solar less than 7% worldwide; Electricity Mix – Our World in Data
Lol! I didn’t say all electricity in the world. I said NEW generation added in 2024. Here are two quotes from my posts.
“In 2024 the worldwide total was 585 GW of new electricity generation, of which over 90% was solar and wind.”
and
“If solar and wind were expensive, they wouldn’t be used to generate over 90% of all new electricity worldwide”
Try looking up new generation sources in 2024 or 2025.
great analysis. thanks papa dave
My pleasure.
“A 2025 SCE TOU overview notes that residential TOU prices range from about 23¢ to as high as 74¢ per kWh depending on plan and time period.” This is Southern California. “Peak rates” are pretty much when you’re home in the evening.
Welcome to the electrification of the economy, where growth in economic activity depends more on growth in electricity supply than in the past. AI, Data Centers, Internet Use, Crypto, EVs, traditional Heating and Cooling, Heat Pumps, Aluminum smelting, etc.
This requires a massive expansion of Electricity generation, grid expansion and grid upgrades. Where will the new generation come from? Hopefully from as many sources as possible. If we can increase supply and the grid quickly and cheaply enough, then that will improve our economic competitive position. And it can keep consumer electricity prices from rising too quickly.
Let’s look at generation.
Almost all new generation in the US is from solar, with a small amount from wind and natural gas. There is almost no new generation from hydro, coal, and nuclear.
In 2024 the US added 31 GW of solar, 3 GW of wind, 3 GW of natural gas, 1 GW of nuclear.
In 2025 it is 33 GW solar, 7 GW wind, 5 GW natural gas, 0 GW nuclear.
In 2026, estimates are similar to 2025. Though Trump is still trying to cancel 6 GW of wind.
We could add a bit more natural gas generation if there wasn’t a 3-5 year wait list on new gas turbines.
If we cannot produce enough additional electricity, then electricity prices will go up faster and more AI data centers and Aluminum smelters will have to be built outside the US, where cheap and abundant electricity is available.
Trump wants more data centers and aluminum smelting in the US. To achieve that, he needs to encourage more solar and wind generation; not less.
For comparison purposes, our largest competitor, China, is adding 10x new electric generation. Which is why they have a big edge in AI over us.
In 2024, China added 277 GW of solar, 79 GW of wind, 14 GW of hydro, 4 GW of nuclear, and 18 GW (net) of coal.
Great info! 15+ GW of battery power is added every year as well which helps with peak demand.
Yes. Battery storage (and other forms of electricity storage) are expanding rapidly in the US and all over the world.
Looking at my August bill:
Tier 1 (first 300 kWh): 159 kWh @ $0.0294
ECAC: 159 kWh @ $0.1178
The city utility department says our rate is below that of other systems. No idea what PG&E charges. As mentioned before, my usage is well below that of average local households as well. Utility sent out mailer informing of a 9% rate hike in 2026, along with a 7% hike in water rate. Currently, new power poles are being installed for a new 12,000 volt system to replace the current 4,000 volt system, as part of the drive to comply with CA green energy policy.
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/dec/26/us-voters-link-climate-crisis-affordability
In Chicago … God’s country … my bill says we pay: “ComEd
• PRICE TO COMPARE: The ComEd electric supply price to compare
is 9.689 cents per kWh. This price does not include a monthly
purchased electricity adjustment factor.”
does that include delivery?
Just the “comparable” amount. There are more than a dozen tax and fee charges on this bill. This is the actual electricity amount.
Three cheers for nuclear reactors. 🙂
We certainly could use more nuclear power. Nuclear represents just 19-20% of our electricity generation.
Too bad conventional nuclear is so expensive. Which is why we aren’t building any new nuclear reactors and are not planning to build any.
For comparison, China is currently building 28 conventional nuclear power plants.
And yet there is so much in the media the last few years about smaller, portable reactors using thorium and other materials that arent so dicey.
Yes. Lots of stories. Lots of hype. All garbage.
We have been using SMRs on subs and naval ships for over 60 years now. But they are very expensive. We know how to make them work. So do the Russians.
In all that time, no one has been able to commercialize SMRs to make them cost effective enough for everyday use.
There are currently 80 SMR projects in 18 countries (including Russia and China). None of them has come close to making SMRs work in a cost effective way. Perhaps someone will make a breakthrough, but after over 60 years, I wouldn’t hold my breath.
China (like the US) has experimental SMRs, experimental Thorium reactors, and experimental fusion reactors. Yet it is currently building 28 conventional nuclear reactors to generate more power. Why? Because they are still the only cost effective reliable method to generate power, using nuclear. The rest are still experimental.
We actually completed a new conventional reactor in 2024, which added 1 GW of power. How many more do we have planned? Zero.
8.79 cents per Kwh – Clark County, WA
I’ve 12 cents here in W PA, but we’re also a net exporter of electricity and gas.
My rate per kWh is about 14¢, but my son’s, in the same county, but serviced by a different utility that only uses hydroelectric generation, is about 10¢.
BTW, my rates are almost 50% higher than five years ago.
Our expensive electricity in CT is one of the worst things about the state. Our infrastructure is archaic and expensive to maintain, we’re almost entirely reliant on natural gas, yet there are no gas pipelines to our area. There are several large wind projects nearly complete offshore, yet they are caught in legal limbo as Trump tries to kill them (he will eventually fail, but we need that electricity now.) We have one nuclear plant still running in the state but it is far beyond its planned life span, and the electricity it produces is heavily subsidized by tacked on rate increases.
In Aug. 2025, Pacific Gas & Electric charged me about 45 cents/kwh. California areas that are served by publicly owned electric utilities (such as the Palo Alto Utilities) have lower electricity rates.
Yes, the areas that are not PGE bring down the average.
It’s 50 cents here in Silicon Valley for Tier 2 (which is most of what one uses).
“Time of use” plans can max out at 60 cents.
The “electric vehicle” plan can max out at 72 cents.
https://www.pge.com/assets/pge/docs/account/rate-plans/residential-electric-rate-plan-pricing.pdf
Here in Central Florida, 20 years ago, our city bought the whole power grid from Duke Energy. It was a big legal battle, but in the contract, the city had the right to buy the grid from Duke Energy. The city buys energy from power plants. Since the purchase, rates have been stable and service has improved. We are almost finished with undergrounding all of the power lines in the city. This has been an ongoing project for a decade. Residents are happy that the city bought the power grid.
My personal observation is that as large oak trees have grown in our neighborhood since the 2004 hurricane onslaught, the shade provided definitely helps keeping the power bill low during the summer. “Plant trees”
True but I’m up to my ankles in acorns now lol.
I live adjacent to a city that bought the power grid from Duke ~1974 on the promise of saving money. The avg. electric bill in that city has been higher than that of neighboring Duke customers EVERY Year for 50 years now!
Maybe it’s just me, but politics was not discussed much in the article, but looking at the top 10 and the bottom 10 … it looks like there is a polarizing effect.
You see politics and I see demographics. The top 10 states have higher population density or proximity to one or the states are very isolated (Hawaii/Alaska) which means it will cost more to maintain the infrastructure, distribute the electricity and maintain it all.
The bottom states have smaller populations so their overall costs will be lower.
But proximity can work both ways. I was speaking more of the dark as obvious in California and in the NorthEast. Texas is the second most populous state and it is quite low. Demographics don’t at all explain the difference between the most populous state and the 2nd most populous state.
Here is an experiment for you. Go to powertochoose.org and type 75148 in the zip code box. The Texas rates for this area are 13 cents per KW for a 12 month contract. Then type 77003 and it jumps to 13.7 cents.
The two zip codes are for Kaufman Texas (in the middle of nowhere, pop. 8010 people) and Houston (pop. ~4 million). Same state different rates and they change all over the place, you can play around and find cheaper or more expensive rates.
There are lots of variables at play, proximity to power plant, population density, government regs, etc. Ultimately though, it’s a financial decision for firms to make a profit providing electricity unless they are forced to by government into losing propositions which is the case for most rural areas so big cities end up subsidizing rural areas.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_power_stations_in_the_United_States
This is great but … the average for the state of California is notably higher than the average for the state of Texas. This is empirical vs anecdotal.
I live in Florida and the public utility commission just passed along a big increase for our private utility providers: Florida Power & Light (FPL) and Duke Energy. The locals are bitching up a storm, but Ron DeSantis can’t run for governor again, so he’s letting ’em run and have some fun. A buddy of mine who works for FPL says inflation is big for the providers, but mostly because the suppliers are monopolies and have jacked up prices over the last couple of years. Thanks Free Market!
Sure, all problems are caused by free market. Look at the most expensive states … and look at their disdain for free markets. Look at Europe where they’re paying far more. But of course the problem is the free market.
But I was told it was all a climate hoax and that changing climate doesn’t cost anyone anything! Bwahahahaha
The next big hit to electricity will be maintaining the power grid infrastructure – you need serious labor to fix downed power lines, dig up trenches, install transformers, etc. but with the median age of electricians in the 50s, good luck finding the labor. I fully expect some type of “infrastructure” charge on electric bills soon enough, they already started charging for smart meters.
Maybe drone robots will do all the work in a few years.
In Texas, there is a website powertochoose.org that one visits to find the cheapest rate year to year. Texas supposedly has a lot of competition for electricity but the rates are all mostly the same. You only get bigger discounts if you use larger quantities of electricity. The current rate listed on the site is ~14.5 cents per kw.
Energy Switch Massachusetts website has updated offers from suppliers. The distribution charges are set by the company covering your area. Supply rates can be locked for up to 3 yrs. Ranges 14-20 cents
19 cents /KwH in Minneapolis.
I have peak and off peak rates so I bought an Ankor Solix unit and shift use from 3am to daytime use so my usage is about equal. Also gives me backup during outages. If you can choose suppliers, find out who’s not for profit and go with them.
I pay 10 cents per kwh in central Texas. Nowhere close to 15
0.08699 per kWh here in the Midwest. My state is not in either of the lists of Highest/Lowest. I do participate in my city’s electric aggregation program.
It depends. My rate per kWh is about 14¢, but my son’s, in the same county, but serviced by a different utility that only uses hydroelectric generation, is about 10¢, like yours.