Insights

The questions and what the data show

Why do electricity price rankings disagree?

Because they use different periods. In August 2026, Nevada's residential price ranked the lowest among the states; over the 12 months from September 2025 to August 2026 it ranked 6th from the bottom. Over the last two years, 5¹ different states have held the lowest monthly price. Why electricity rankings disagree shows how a single month mostly measures the season, and why our rankings use 12 months.

Are electricity prices rising faster than inflation?

At the moment, yes. In September 2026 the Consumer Price Index for electricity was +4.4% above a year earlier, against +3.7%² for all items. Over longer spans the answer depends on the starting year; electricity prices vs inflation sets BLS, EIA and Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory figures side by side.

What are PJM capacity prices doing to bills?

Over the 12 months from September 2025 to August 2026, the average residential price rose 19.8% in the District of Columbia, 12.7% in Maryland and 12.3% in Pennsylvania, against 6.5%¹ for the US. All three are in PJM, the grid operator whose capacity auction prices climbed from their 2024 low. PJM capacity prices and electric bills traces the change state by state.

Why do Hawaii and California pay the most?

For different reasons. Over the 12 months from September 2025 to August 2026, Hawaii homes paid an average of 44.27¢ per kWh and California homes 32.34¢ per kWh¹, the two highest in the country. Hawaii generated 74.9%³ of its electricity from petroleum in 2025; in California the gap is between utilities. Why Hawaii and California pay the most follows both routes.

Do co-ops and city utilities charge less than investor-owned utilities?

On average, yes: in 2025 cooperative members paid 14.10¢ per kWh, public power customers 14.49¢ per kWh and investor-owned utility customers 17.78¢ per kWh⁴. Most of the gap is geography, and it narrows when utilities are compared inside the same state. Co-ops vs investor-owned utilities makes that comparison.

Are electric bills higher in summer or winter?

Nationally, summer: over the 12 months from September 2025 to August 2026, use per home peaked at 1,160 kWh in July 2026, against 678 kWh in April 2026¹. In parts of the Upper South, the Mid-Atlantic, the Northwest and the northern Plains the heaviest month is January. Summer vs winter electric bills maps the split.

How the insights are built

Each insight starts from one question, answers it in the first paragraph and ends with a method section: which dataset, which period, which customers and what the measure leaves out. Prices are average revenue per kWh, what customers paid in total divided by what they used, not a tariff. Comparisons use the same period on both sides: 12 months against the 12 before, or one month against the same month a year earlier. Monthly figures since January 2026 are preliminary and may be revised by EIA.

Where an explanation depends on a study or a regulator's finding, it is quoted and linked rather than asserted. The figures update with each release listed on the updates page, so an answer can change; the question and method stay the same. For the arithmetic behind the numbers, the guides explain bills one charge at a time, and the sources page lists every dataset used.