Electricity rates in North Carolina

Households in North Carolina pay an average of 14.74¢ per kilowatt-hour, below the national average of 18.34¢. That is up 10.2% from 13.38¢ in the same month a year earlier.

What that price means in practice

A price per kilowatt-hour is hard to feel. Here is the same number expressed as money. The most expensive item in the table below is electric furnace, which at 14.74¢ costs about $2,421 a year in North Carolina against $3,012 at the national average — a saving of $591 a year for the identical appliance used in the identical way.

Widen that to the five heaviest users in a typical home and the gap compounds: about $6,018 a year in North Carolina versus $7,488 nationally. None of that is a difference in how much electricity you use. It is the same consumption at a different price.

Prices here rose 10.2% over the year to June 2026, against +5.0% nationally. On the five-appliance basket above that shift is worth roughly $555 a year by itself.

What appliances cost to run in North Carolina

Estimated annual cost at 14.74¢ per kilowatt-hour, using typical wattage and usage. Open any appliance to adjust both.

Prices here moved +10.2% over the past year. See whether North Carolina rose more than the rest of the country.

A statewide average is not what any single household pays. Find the rate on your own bill to see how far North Carolina’s average sits from yours, or read why the spread between states is this wide.

Business electricity rates in North Carolina

Businesses do not pay the residential rate. EIA publishes commercial and industrial averages separately, and the gap between them is one of the larger and less discussed differences in US electricity pricing.

Residential

14.74¢

homes

Commercial

10.51¢

shops, offices, restaurants

Industrial

7.87¢

manufacturing, large plant

A small business in North Carolina paying the commercial average of 10.51¢ pays about 29% less per kilowatt-hour than a household here. On a commercial refrigeration or HVAC load running most of the day, that difference compounds into real money — a single 3 kW load running 12 hours a day comes to roughly $1,381 a year at the commercial rate.

Commercial and industrial customers are usually billed on demand charges and time-of-use tariffs as well as per kilowatt-hour, so a real bill will not match a flat average. Treat these as a baseline for comparing states, not as a quote.

Statewide average across all residential customers in North Carolina for June 2026. Your own utility’s price may differ, and the figure excludes fixed charges and taxes. Source: EIA Electric Power Monthly, Table 5.6.A.