Average electricity rates by state

Why the spread is this wide

Hawaii pays about 4.0× what Nevada pays for the same kilowatt-hour. A rate is not one number but a stack of them: the fuel a state burns to generate power, how far that power travels before it reaches a meter, what the local grid has spent on wires and storms, and how the state regulates its utilities. Places that import their fuel or sit at the end of a long line pay for both; places next to cheap hydro or gas do not. A single national average hides all of it, which is why the number that matters is your state’s, not the country’s.

Reading the year-over-year column

The last column compares each state with the same month a year earlier, not with last month, because electricity prices are seasonal and a month-to-month move mostly measures the weather. A double-digit annual change is usually a fuel-cost swing or an approved rate case working through to bills rather than anything a household did. It is the figure to watch if you are deciding whether this winter will cost more than the last.

Turning a rate into a decision

A price per kilowatt-hour on its own settles nothing; it becomes useful only once it meets an appliance. Open your state’s page for its rank, its commercial and industrial rates, and what the local price does to the cost of the things people actually run; or take the rate straight to an appliance page, where the same figure drives a real monthly number you can change by adjusting how you use the thing.