Average Electricity Rates By State, What Do You Pay?

By Mish Shedlock of MishTalk

Tuesday, December 30, 2025 8:40 AM EST

Hawaii and California have the highest rates. Idaho is 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.