Electricity Rates by State — U.S. Residential & Commercial kWh Prices

U.S. Electricity Rates by State

Residential and commercial electricity rates for all 50 states plus D.C. — cents per kilowatt-hour, with year-over-year change, regional comparison, and context on why rates vary by geography. Refreshed monthly from U.S. Energy Information Administration data.

The national average residential electricity rate is loading per kWh, up loading year-over-year. Commercial customers pay less — averaging loading per kWh, about 22% below residential rates, reflecting the scale and predictability of business electricity consumption.

Rates vary dramatically by geography. loading has the country's lowest residential electricity at —, while loading is the most expensive at — — more than 3x the cheapest. These gaps reflect fuel mix (hydroelectric vs. imported petroleum), grid age, regulatory structure, and renewable-energy mandates.

Electricity pricing is tightly coupled to the other energy markets this site covers. Natural gas generates roughly 40% of U.S. electricity — so when oil and gas prices move, power generation costs follow. And when geopolitical events affect global LNG flows, U.S. electricity costs absorb part of the shock. For context on the inputs driving these rates, see our gas prices by state and natural gas pricing coverage.

Electricity costs follow clear geographic patterns driven by fuel sources, infrastructure age, and regulatory structure. The Northeast pays substantially more than the national average, while the South Central region enjoys the lowest rates thanks to abundant natural gas production and deregulated markets.

14 states plus D.C. have deregulated electricity markets — meaning customers can choose their retail electricity supplier from competing providers instead of being served exclusively by the local utility. In deregulated states, residential customers typically save 15-30% by actively shopping plans.

Regulated states set rates through a public utility commission. While customers can't shop providers, rates tend to be more stable and predictable.

The national average residential electricity rate has climbed roughly 21% over the past five years, rising from about 14.92¢/kWh in 2022 to the current level. Several structural forces drive this:

  • Natural gas price volatility. Gas fires ~40% of U.S. power generation, so electricity rates inherit gas-price shocks with a lag.
  • Grid modernization. Utility investments in wildfire hardening (West), hurricane resilience (Gulf), and winter storm preparation (Texas) flow through as rate increases.
  • Data center and EV demand. Record data center construction and EV adoption are pushing system-wide consumption higher, tightening supply-demand balance.
  • Renewable transition costs. State renewable mandates require infrastructure buildouts that temporarily raise rates before long-term savings materialize.

Historical trend based on EIA annual averages. Full monthly series at eia.gov/electricity/monthly.

Which state has the cheapest electricity?
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Why is Hawaii's electricity so expensive?
Hawaii pays roughly 39.89¢/kWh — over 2.2x the national average — because the state imports petroleum for most power generation. Island geography means no access to mainland grid infrastructure or cheaper natural gas pipelines. Hawaii is actively transitioning to renewables with strong rooftop-solar adoption, and prices have begun declining modestly as solar and battery capacity grow.
Why do residential and commercial rates differ?
Businesses consume electricity in larger, more predictable quantities, reducing per-customer infrastructure and billing overhead. Large commercial users also leverage time-of-use pricing and demand-response programs to shift consumption to off-peak hours. Nationally, commercial rates average about 22% below residential.
What factors determine electricity prices?
Six main factors: fuel costs (especially natural gas, which fires 40% of U.S. generation), power-plant operating expenses, transmission infrastructure investments, weather-driven seasonal demand, state regulations including renewable mandates, and market structure (regulated vs. deregulated). Rate increases tend to lag fuel-price changes by 6-18 months.
Can I switch electricity providers to save money?
If you live in one of 14 deregulated states (Texas, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Illinois, New Jersey, New York, Connecticut, Delaware, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island) or D.C., you can choose among retail providers. Customers typically save 15-30% by actively shopping plans rather than defaulting to the incumbent utility.
Why did rates increase so much this year?
This year's increase reflects rising natural gas prices, grid-modernization investments, elevated data-center and EV demand, extreme-weather hardening costs, and renewable transition expenses. Northeastern states and California have been hardest hit, with year-over-year increases of 7-9% in several markets.
How does electricity pricing relate to oil and gas?
Oil prices have little direct effect on most electricity rates — oil fires less than 1% of U.S. generation. Natural gas is the critical fuel link, powering about 40% of generation. When gas prices rise, electricity costs follow within 3-9 months. Coal, nuclear, hydro, wind, and solar provide the rest of the mix and their economics affect regional rates differently.

Rate data is sourced monthly from U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) Electric Power Monthly, the federal statistical agency that tracks electricity pricing, generation, and consumption. We consume the data via ElectricChoice.com's published CSV, which aggregates EIA series into an accessible state-level format.

Update cadence: this page refreshes monthly — EIA publishes revised state-average rates on a roughly 4-6 week cadence. Timestamp below reflects the last successful fetch.

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Raw structured data is available at /data/sources/electricity-prices.json for developers and researchers.