Cost of Electricity Per kWh by US State

Last Updated on May 1, 2023 by Mary Pressler

Electric Rates by State: 2023 vs 2022

The US Energy Information is constantly gathering the latest energy data, and this includes the electricity cost per kilowatt-hour (kWh) by state. It’s important to note that analyzing all this information takes time, and the latest data published is normally from a few months ago. As of April 2023, the latest kWh prices published by the US EIA are from January 2023, and they are also compared with those from 12 months earlier (January 2022).

The impact of inflation is evident across all states and business sectors, and this includes the electric power industry.

Between January 2022 and January 2023, the average electricity price for US homeowners increased from 13.72 to 15.47 cents/kWh.
This represents a 12.76% increase in kWh prices, which is twice the general inflation rate during the same 12-month period: a 6.4% increase in the US Consumer Price Index.

Electricity prices vary by state, and they depend on a combination of many factors. For example, Texas has below-average kWh prices thanks to the abundance of local resources, while states that depend on electricity and gas imports tend to have higher kWh prices.

Residential Electricity Rates in Each US State (2023)

The following table provides the latest state electricity prices per kWh reported by the EIA, from lowest to highest, comparing them with 12 months earlier. Electricity prices are up across the board, but the increase is more drastic in some states.

US State	January 2023 Price (Cents/kWh)	January 2022 Price (Cents/kWh)	Increase / Decrease (% Change)
Nebraska	9.35	9.43	-0.85%
North Dakota	9.91	9.44	+4.98%
Wyoming	10.28	10.28	0.00%
Washington	10.48	9.92	+5.65%
Idaho	10.58	9.90	+6.87%
Utah	10.66	10.27	+3.80%
Missouri	10.73	10.06	+6.66%
Montana	10.73	10.67	+0.56%
Oklahoma	10.96	10.16	+7.87%
South Dakota	11.25	11.03	+1.99%
Iowa	11.30	10.97	+3.01%
Arkansas	11.42	10.33	+10.55%
Louisiana	11.94	11.20	+6.61%
Oregon	12.04	10.86	+10.87%
Tennessee	12.11	11.50	+5.30%
Arizona	12.62	12.37	+2.02%
North Carolina	12.67	10.88	+16.45%
Kentucky	12.68	11.93	+6.29%
Georgia	12.87	11.63	+10.66%
Kansas	12.97	12.52	+3.59%
Minnesota	13.08	12.71	+2.91%
West Virginia	13.09	11.95	+9.54%
Mississippi	13.18	11.48	+14.81%
New Mexico	13.53	13.11	+3.20%
South Carolina	13.99	12.73	+9.90%
Virginia	14.03	12.10	+15.95%
Delaware	14.18	12.24	+15.85%
Texas	14.18	12.28	+15.47%
Colorado	14.20	13.59	+4.49%
Ohio	14.31	12.53	+14.21%
Alabama	14.36	12.86	+11.66%
District of Columbia	14.91	13.23	+12.70%
Florida	15.01	13.36	+12.35%
Indiana	15.43	13.41	+15.06%
Maryland	15.87	13.41	+18.34%
Illinois	16.04	13.12	+22.26%
Wisconsin	16.05	14.81	+8.37%
Nevada	16.81	12.94	+29.91%
New Jersey	16.92	16.33	+3.61%
Pennsylvania	17.99	14.18	+26.87%
Michigan	17.99	17.11	+5.14%
Vermont	19.95	19.34	+3.15%
Alaska	21.90	22.09	-0.86%
New York	23.57	21.02	+12.13%
Maine	24.12	18.33	+31.59%
California	26.45	23.60	+12.08%
Rhode Island	28.96	23.56	+22.92%
Connecticut	30.24	22.29	+35.67%
Massachusetts	31.71	25.36	+25.04%
New Hampshire	31.72	21.27	+49.13%
Hawaii	44.96	37.61	+19.54%
US Average	15.47	13.72	+12.76%

As you can see in the table above, there are currently 9 states with an average electricity price above 20 cents/kWh.

Connecticut, Massachusetts and New Hampshire surpassed 30 cents/kWh.
Hawaii is approaching 45 cents/kWh.
Texas is currently at 14.18 cents/kWh, which is 8.3% below the US average.

The 8 states listed below experienced the most drastic increase in residential electricity prices between January 2022 and January 2023. All these states suffered a kWh price hike of over 20 percent:

New Hampshire (+49.13%)
Connecticut (+35.67%)
Maine (+31.59%)
Nevada (+29.91%)
Pennsylvania (+26.87%)
Massachusetts (+25.04%)
Rhode Island (+22.92%)
Illinois (+22.26%)

There were only three states where the average electricity price decreased or remained constant in the same 12-month period:

Alaska (-0.86%)
Nebraska (-0.85%)
Wyoming (0.00%)

Highest and Lowest Residential Rates per kWh

Currently, electricity prices vary dramatically depending on the state. For example, residential kWh prices in New Hampshire are 239% higher than in Nebraska. Electricity costs depend on a combination of several factors: state regulations, climate, geography, consumption habits, deregulation, local energy resources and the power generation mix all come into play.

In the following table, you can compare the five states with the highest and lowest electricity prices (based on the US EIA data available in April 2023):

Highest Electricity Prices

Lowest Electricity Prices

1) Hawaii = 44.96 cents/kWh

2) New Hampshire = 31.72 cents/kWh

3) Massachusetts = 31.71 cents/kWh

4) Connecticut = 30.24 cents/kWh

5) Rhode Island = 28.96 cents/kWh

1) Nebraska = 9.35 cents/kWh

2) North Dakota = 9.91 cents/kWh

3) Wyoming = 10.28 cents/kWh

4) Washington = 10.48 cents/kWh

5) Idaho = 10.58 cents/kWh

Commercial Electricity Rates in Each US State (2023)

In general, commercial energy consumers have access to lower kilowatt-hour prices compared with homeowners. In this case there are also important differences between states, as you can see in the table below:

	US State	January 2023 Price (Cents/kWh)	January 2022 Price (Cents/kWh)	Increase / Decrease (% Change)
1	Utah	7.97	7.81	+2.05%
2	Idaho	8.19	7.80	+5.00%
3	Nebraska	8.48	8.42	+0.71%
4	Missouri	8.77	8.41	+4.28%
5	Wyoming	8.83	9.03	-2.21%
6	Texas	9.05	7.85	+15.29%
7	Oklahoma	9.09	8.78	+3.53%
8	North Dakota	9.15	8.77	+4.33%
9	Iowa	9.32	9.15	+1.86%
10	South Dakota	9.81	9.61	+2.08%
11	Virginia	9.96	8.56	+16.36%
12	North Carolina	10.02	7.92	+26.52%
13	Arkansas	10.09	9.11	+10.76%
14	Washington	10.13	9.41	+7.65%
15	Oregon	10.21	9.27	+10.14%
16	Montana	10.33	10.09	+2.38%
17	Arizona	10.49	9.99	+5.01%
18	Ohio	10.51	9.75	+7.79%
19	New Mexico	10.55	10.29	+2.53%
20	West Virginia	10.74	9.63	+11.53%
21	Colorado	11.05	10.47	+5.54%
22	Minnesota	11.22	11.03	+1.72%
23	Kansas	11.27	10.56	+6.72%
24	Louisiana	11.57	10.77	+7.43%
25	South Carolina	11.59	11.02	+5.17%
26	Georgia	11.67	10.93	+6.77%
27	Nevada	11.86	8.53	+39.04%
28	Illinois	11.87	9.81	+21.00%
29	Pennsylvania	12.02	9.60	+25.21%
30	Delaware	12.02	9.79	+22.78%
31	Tennessee	12.08	11.46	+5.41%
32	Wisconsin	12.15	11.31	+7.43%
33	Kentucky	12.24	11.31	+8.22%
34	Florida	12.30	10.73	+14.63%
35	Mississippi	13.17	11.34	+16.14%
36	Michigan	13.25	12.29	+7.81%
37	Alabama	13.41	12.47	+7.54%
38	Indiana	13.65	11.82	+15.48%
39	New Jersey	13.66	13.31	+2.63%
40	Maryland	14.64	11.73	+24.81%
41	District of Columbia	15.91	14.76	+7.79%
42	Maine	15.97	13.99	+14.15%
43	Vermont	17.34	16.97	+2.18%
44	New York	18.04	16.60	+8.67%
45	Rhode Island	19.22	17.63	+9.02%
46	Alaska	21.01	19.46	+7.97%
47	Massachusetts	21.08	19.56	+7.77%
48	Connecticut	21.36	17.68	+20.81%
49	California	21.99	18.53	+18.67%
50	New Hampshire	22.26	17.48	+27.35%
51	Hawaii	43.65	36.29	+20.28%
	US Average	12.79	11.36	+12.59%

As you can see, commercial electricity rates are lower than residential prices across the US. The only exception is Washington DC, where the average commercial rate (15.91 cents/kWh) is higher than the residential rate (14.91 cents/kWh) by 6.5%. There are 11 states with average commercial rates below 10 cents/kWh, and only six states have average rates above 20 cents/kWh.

Between January 2022 and January 2023, commercial kWh prices increased the most in the 9 states listed below. All of them had a price hike of over 20 percent:

Nevada (+39.04%)
New Hampshire (+27.35%)
North Carolina (+26.52%)
Pennsylvania (+25.21%)
Maryland (+24.81%)
Delaware (+22.78%)
Illinois (+21.00%)
Connecticut (+20.81%)
Hawaii (+20.28%)

Commercial kWh prices increased in all states except for Wyoming, where rates decreased by 2.21%.

New Hampshire and Utah have the highest and lowest commercial kWh prices among the 48 contiguous states, with a 179% difference. The following table compares the five states with highest and lowest commercial rates overall:

Highest Electricity Prices

Lowest Electricity Prices

1) Hawaii = 43.65 cents/kWh

2) New Hampshire = 22.26 cents/kWh

3) California = 21.99 cents/kWh

4) Connecticut = 21.36 cents/kWh

5) Massachusetts = 21.08 cents/kWh

1) Utah = 7.97 cents/kWh

2) Idaho = 8.19 cents/kWh

3) Nebraska = 8.48 cents/kWh

4) Missouri = 8.77 cents/kWh

5) Wyoming = 8.83 cents/kWh

Cities Within a Single State Can Have Different Electric Rates

Keep in mind these are average kWh prices, which means you can find electricity plans with higher or lower rates. Also consider that electricity prices not only vary across states, but also within the same state because of transmission and delivery costs.

For example, if you compare electricity plans from the same providers in Dallas-Fort Worth (Oncor service territory) and Houston (CenterPoint service territory), you will notice slight differences.