North Carolina electricity rates and bills

What North Carolina homes pay per kWh

Over the 12 months from September 2025 to August 2026, North Carolina's residential customers paid an average of 14.79¢ per kWh, 18.0% below the US average and the 17th lowest among the 50 states and DC. That figure is average revenue per kWh: everything homes paid their utility, fixed charges and fuel riders included, divided by the electricity they used. In the single month of August 2026 the average was 14.95¢ per kWh, against 14.59¢ per kWh¹ in August 2025; monthly figures for 2026 are preliminary.

The direction changed in 2026. The annual average slipped 0.9% from 2024 to 2025, to 14.00¢ per kWh, the 4th lowest change among the states, while the US average rose 4.6%⁵. Over January to August 2026, North Carolina's residential average was 14.94¢ per kWh, +8.2% on the same months of 2025. The national figure for those months was +6.8%¹.

North CarolinaUnited States

Source: EIA, Electric Power Monthly / EIA-861M sales and revenue by state. Average revenue per kWh (all charges, nominal dollars), each month; summer and winter months differ by season. Monthly EIA data through August 2026 (released October 23, 2026); months since January 2026 are preliminary.

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Period	North Carolina (¢/kWh)	United States (¢/kWh)
Jan 2022	10.52¢	13.64¢
Feb 2022	10.83¢	13.76¢
Mar 2022	11.79¢	14.41¢
Apr 2022	11.80¢	14.57¢
May 2022	11.68¢	14.89¢
Jun 2022	11.33¢	15.30¢
Jul 2022	11.52¢	15.31¢
Aug 2022	11.87¢	15.82¢
Sep 2022	12.64¢	16.19¢
Oct 2022	12.97¢	15.99¢
Nov 2022	11.89¢	15.55¢
Dec 2022	11.48¢	14.94¢
Jan 2023	12.37¢	15.47¢
Feb 2023	12.75¢	15.98¢
Mar 2023	12.67¢	16.04¢
Apr 2023	12.91¢	16.10¢
May 2023	12.90¢	16.14¢
Jun 2023	12.57¢	16.09¢
Jul 2023	12.39¢	15.86¢
Aug 2023	12.70¢	15.91¢
Sep 2023	13.72¢	16.27¢
Oct 2023	14.40¢	16.48¢
Nov 2023	13.39¢	16.19¢
Dec 2023	12.97¢	15.69¢
Jan 2024	12.84¢	15.41¢
Feb 2024	14.88¢	16.10¢
Mar 2024	15.34¢	16.67¢
Apr 2024	14.72¢	16.86¢
May 2024	13.92¢	16.40¢
Jun 2024	13.45¢	16.38¢
Jul 2024	13.67¢	16.62¢
Aug 2024	13.91¢	16.60¢
Sep 2024	14.87¢	16.82¢
Oct 2024	15.23¢	17.09¢
Nov 2024	14.86¢	16.85¢
Dec 2024	13.51¢	16.27¢
Jan 2025	12.50¢	15.92¢
Feb 2025	14.13¢	16.40¢
Mar 2025	14.79¢	17.03¢
Apr 2025	14.54¢	17.20¢
May 2025	14.30¢	17.33¢
Jun 2025	13.37¢	17.44¢
Jul 2025	13.35¢	17.39¢
Aug 2025	14.59¢	17.57¢
Sep 2025	15.08¢	18.05¢
Oct 2025	15.01¢	17.95¢
Nov 2025	14.61¢	17.77¢
Dec 2025	13.45¢	17.11¢
Jan 2026	13.68¢	17.45¢
Feb 2026	14.64¢	17.65¢
Mar 2026	16.00¢	18.60¢
Apr 2026	16.25¢	18.86¢
May 2026	15.09¢	18.44¢
Jun 2026	14.74¢	18.34¢
Jul 2026	15.16¢	18.31¢
Aug 2026	14.95¢	18.16¢

Duke Energy Carolinas or Duke Energy Progress

North Carolina has two Duke Energy utilities, each with its own rates. Duke Energy Carolinas serves 2.0 million residential customers in counties that include Mecklenburg (Charlotte) and Forsyth (Winston-Salem); Duke Energy Progress serves 1.4 million³ in counties that include Cumberland (Fayetteville) and New Hanover (Wilmington). Both also operate in South Carolina, and both belong to the same parent, Duke Energy. Their North Carolina rates are set separately by the North Carolina Utilities Commission.

The two averages are far apart. In 2025, Duke Energy Carolinas' residential customers paid an average of 13.41¢ per kWh (4.2% below the North Carolina average), and Duke Energy Progress customers 15.19¢ per kWh (8.5% above the North Carolina average). Progress customers also used more, 1,046 kWh a month against 996 kWh, so their average bill of $158.90 was well above the Carolinas average of $133.63³.

Duke Energy Carolinas (NC)$133.63

EnergyUnited (NC)$141.14

Brunswick Electric (NC)$144.13

Duke Energy Progress (NC)$158.90

Dominion Energy North Carolina (NC)$163.67

Source: EIA-861 annual electric power industry report, 2025 final. EIA-861 2025 final. Average revenue per kWh is all charges divided by kWh; it is not a tariff rate.

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Utility	average monthly residential bill
Duke Energy Carolinas (NC)	$133.63
EnergyUnited (NC)	$141.14
Brunswick Electric (NC)	$144.13
Duke Energy Progress (NC)	$158.90
Dominion Energy North Carolina (NC)	$163.67

Both annual averages fell from 2024 to 2025: Carolinas by 3.8% and Progress by 2.3%³. EIA's monthly sample gives a more recent view: over the 12 months from September 2025 to August 2026, Carolinas customers paid 14.00¢ per kWh and Progress customers 16.38¢ per kWh (2026 months preliminary). The latest month points in different directions: in August 2026¹, the Carolinas average was +4.2% against the same month a year earlier, the Progress average −4.4%⁶.

The two territories interlock rather than split the state in half: EIA's service-territory records place both companies in Wake, Durham, Guilford and Buncombe counties, among others, so a county or city name does not settle which one serves you. Only the utilities' own maps decide by address.

Duke Energy Carolinas only (of these)Duke Energy Progress only (of these)Two or more of themOther utilities only

Source: EIA-861 2025, service territory; Census Bureau, Cartographic boundary file, counties. Counties where each utility reports serving customers (EIA-861 service territory, 2025). A utility often serves only part of a county, and several can share one: the map shows where each one is present, not street-level boundaries. Point at a county for every utility listed there.

Cooperatives, city utilities and Dominion

Outside Duke's wires, North Carolina is a patchwork. EIA lists 107 utilities with customers in the state in 2025: 3 investor-owned, 29 cooperatives (electric membership corporations, or EMCs) and 22³ public power utilities owned by cities and towns, such as the Fayetteville Public Works Commission and Greenville Utilities. Pitt County has the most, with 11 distribution utilities reporting service there, and 94⁷ of the 100 counties have at least two.

Taken together, customers of the cooperatives and of the investor-owned utilities paid almost the same on average in 2025: 14.13¢ per kWh and 14.11¢ per kWh. Public power customers paid less, 12.64¢ per kWh. Individual utilities ranged far wider. Among the 44 with 10,000 or more residential customers, the averages ran from 11.27¢ per kWh at City of Albemarle to 20.70¢ per kWh at Roanoke Electric Membership Corporation, a spread of 9.43¢ per kWh³.

The largest cooperative, EnergyUnited, averaged 11.61¢ per kWh, 17.1% below the North Carolina average; its members used 1,215 kWh a month, for an average bill of $141.14. Brunswick Electric, a cooperative in Brunswick, Columbus, Bladen and Robeson counties, averaged 13.34¢ per kWh. Dominion Energy North Carolina, the third investor-owned utility, serves counties that include Dare, Currituck and Pasquotank in the northeast; its average fell 8.5% in 2025, to 12.74¢ per kWh, but its customers used the most of the five largest utilities, 1,285 kWh a month, for an average bill of $163.67³.

City of Albemarle11.27¢

City of Statesville11.50¢

City of Concord11.57¢

EnergyUnited11.61¢

City of Lexington11.62¢

Town of High Point11.66¢

City of Monroe11.72¢

City of Elizabeth City12.03¢

Fayetteville Public Works Commission12.14¢

City of Gastonia12.34¢

Carteret-Craven Electric Membership Corporation12.46¢

Greenville Utilities Comm12.68¢

Dominion Energy North Carolina12.74¢

City of Wilson12.85¢

City of Kinston12.96¢

City of Washington12.98¢

Rutherford Electric Membership Corporation13.02¢

City of Rocky Mount13.16¢

Mountain Electric Cooperative13.17¢

Tri-County Electric Membership Corporation13.29¢

North Carolina average14.00¢

Source: EIA-861 annual electric power industry report, 2025 final. Utilities with 10,000 or more bundled (full-service) residential customers; the 20 lowest of 44 shown. Revenue divided by kWh sold, all charges included, EIA-861 2025 final. Darker bars have their own page.

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Utility	¢/kWh
City of Albemarle	11.27¢
City of Statesville	11.50¢
City of Concord	11.57¢
EnergyUnited	11.61¢
City of Lexington	11.62¢
Town of High Point	11.66¢
City of Monroe	11.72¢
City of Elizabeth City	12.03¢
Fayetteville Public Works Commission	12.14¢
City of Gastonia	12.34¢
Carteret-Craven Electric Membership Corporation	12.46¢
Greenville Utilities Comm	12.68¢
Dominion Energy North Carolina	12.74¢
City of Wilson	12.85¢
City of Kinston	12.96¢
City of Washington	12.98¢
Rutherford Electric Membership Corporation	13.02¢
City of Rocky Mount	13.16¢
Mountain Electric Cooperative	13.17¢
Tri-County Electric Membership Corporation	13.29¢
North Carolina average	14.00¢

Electric heat and the winter peak

Over the 12 months from September 2025 to August 2026, North Carolina's use per home peaked in winter, at 1,351 kWh in January 2026, and fell to 756 kWh in April 2026, a ratio of 1.8 times¹. In the Census Bureau's 2025 survey, 66.1% of North Carolina households heated mainly with electricity, against 41.8%⁴ nationally. The winters are mild by national standards (3,062 heating degree days a year on average over 2016–2025, 10th lowest⁹ among the states with NOAA data), but with that much electric heat, colder months show up directly in kWh.

920Sep

793Oct

849Nov

1,200Dec

1,351Jan

1,185Feb

835Mar

756Apr

864May

1,125Jun

1,338Jul

1,310Aug

Source: EIA, Electric Power Monthly / EIA-861M sales and revenue by state. Residential kWh sold per customer in each month. The table adds that month's average residential price. Monthly EIA data through August 2026 (released October 23, 2026); months since January 2026 are preliminary.

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Month	kWh per customer	Residential ¢/kWh
September 2025	920	15.08¢
October 2025	793	15.01¢
November 2025	849	14.61¢
December 2025	1,200	13.45¢
January 2026	1,351	13.68¢
February 2026	1,185	14.64¢
March 2026	835	16.00¢
April 2026	756	16.25¢
May 2026	864	15.09¢
June 2026	1,125	14.74¢
July 2026	1,338	15.16¢
August 2026	1,310	14.95¢

The average price per kWh followed use only loosely. It was highest in April 2026 (16.25¢ per kWh), a low-use month, and lowest in December 2025 (13.45¢ per kWh¹). Fixed monthly charges spread over fewer kWh raise the average in low-use months, so a high average price in April does not mean a high April bill.

Summer still counts: 1,646 cooling degree days a year on average over the same decade put the state 12th highest⁹. In August 2026, the average home used 1,310 kWh and the computed average bill was $195.84¹.

Bills: a lower price, more kWh

The average residential bill was $146.14 a month in 2025, $4.54 less a month than the US average. The price advantage shrinks on the bill because the average North Carolina home used 1,044 kWh a month, 15th highest among the states, against 874 kWh nationally. The bill rose 1.8% from 2024, the 6th lowest increase, while the US average bill rose 5.9%². Over the 12 months from September 2025 to August 2026, the computed average was $154.46¹.

Households' own reports measure something different: a recalled bill, taxes included, summarized as a median rather than an average. The Census Bureau's 2025 survey put North Carolina's median monthly bill at about $180 (US $169). 27.0% of households paying for electricity reported $250 or more (margin of error ±0.4 percentage points), +3.8 percentage points¹⁰ on the 2024 survey; that difference between two estimates is not tested for significance.

Under $50$50–99$100–149$150–199$200–249$250 or more

North Carolina

United States

Source: Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2025 1-year estimates, table B25132. Households charged for electricity, by the cost they reported for the previous month (American Community Survey 2025, 1-year). Interviews run all year, so this is a typical month, recalled by the household; households whose electricity is included in rent are left out.

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	Under $50	$50–99	$100–149	$150–199	$200–249	$250 or more
North Carolina	2.0%	14.4%	22.0%	19.6%	15.0%	27.0%
United States	5.2%	17.9%	20.7%	16.7%	13.0%	26.6%

EIA's household energy survey for 2020, a pandemic year, estimated that a North Carolina home used 12,485 kWh a year, with space heating accounting for 17% of it (US 12%) and air conditioning 18%¹¹. Newer consumption figures from that survey are due in spring 2027.

Price history since 2001

North Carolina's annual residential average was 8.12¢ per kWh¹² in 2001 and 14.00¢ per kWh in 2025, a rise of 72.4%, the 6th lowest increase among the states. The US average rose 100.8% over the same years. The state's average rose in 19 of the years since 2002 and last fell in 2025⁵.

Businesses pay well below the national average too. Over the 12 months from September 2025 to August 2026, commercial customers paid 10.57¢ per kWh (23.8% below the US average) and industrial customers 7.89¢ per kWh (11.4% below the US average¹).

North CarolinaUnited States

Source: EIA, Historical state data, annual sales, revenue and customers; EIA, Historical state data, monthly sales and revenue 1990-2009. Average revenue per kWh (all charges, nominal dollars), each calendar year: 2010 onward EIA-861 final annual data, 2001–2009 the sum of the monthly survey.

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Period	North Carolina (¢/kWh)	United States (¢/kWh)
2001	8.12¢	8.58¢
2002	8.19¢	8.44¢
2003	8.32¢	8.72¢
2004	8.45¢	8.95¢
2005	8.65¢	9.45¢
2006	9.12¢	10.40¢
2007	9.40¢	10.65¢
2008	9.52¢	11.26¢
2009	9.99¢	11.51¢
2010	10.12¢	11.54¢
2011	10.26¢	11.72¢
2012	10.91¢	11.88¢
2013	10.97¢	12.13¢
2014	11.10¢	12.52¢
2015	11.28¢	12.65¢
2016	11.03¢	12.55¢
2017	10.94¢	12.89¢
2018	11.09¢	12.87¢
2019	11.42¢	13.01¢
2020	11.38¢	13.15¢
2021	11.32¢	13.66¢
2022	11.62¢	15.04¢
2023	12.93¢	16.00¢
2024	14.13¢	16.48¢
2025	14.00¢	17.23¢

Nuclear, gas and a fast rise in solar

Natural gas produced 40.6% of North Carolina's electricity in 2025 and nuclear plants 32.0%, the 9th highest nuclear share in the country. Coal fell from 31.1% in 2015 to 13.3%. Solar grew from 1.1% to 8.9%, the 14th highest share, while wind stayed at 0.7%. The state's plants generated the equivalent of 96%¹³ of its retail sales in 2025, slightly less than its customers bought.

How the neighbors compare

1 of North Carolina's 4 neighbors had a lower residential average over the 12 months from September 2025 to August 2026: Tennessee, at 13.61¢ per kWh. Virginia was the highest at 16.64¢ per kWh¹.

Outages, meters and help with bills

North Carolina customers averaged 196 minutes without power in 2025 including major storms and 144 minutes excluding them, with 1.40¹⁴ interruptions per customer. Advanced meters covered 92.9% of residential customers in 2025, and 4.9% were on time-of-use or other time-varying rates (US 11.3%). The state had 63,841 residential net-metering customers, 12.4¹⁵ per 1,000.

North Carolina received $105.1 million from the federal Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) for fiscal 2026, $23.15 per occupied home; the first allocation for fiscal 2027 was $98.8 million¹⁶. The help paying your electric bill guide explains who qualifies and how to apply.