Electricity rankings

What each ranking measures

Prices and bills for homes

• Cheapest electricity by state ranks the average residential price over the 12 months from September 2025 to August 2026. North Dakota was lowest at 12.35¢ per kWh and Hawaii highest at 44.27¢ per kWh; the median state paid 15.77¢ per kWh.
• Average electric bill by state ranks the monthly residential bill in 2025, from Hawaii ($207.89) to New Mexico ($94.65).
• Electricity usage by state ranks kWh per home per month in 2025: Louisiana used the most (1,225 kWh) and California the least (494 kWh²).
• Electricity price increases by state ranks the change in the residential price over the 12 months from September 2025 to August 2026 against the 12 before: The District of Columbia rose most (+19.8%) and Connecticut changed least (−9.0%¹).
• Cheapest and most expensive electric companies ranks the 177 utilities with 100,000 or more residential customers by their 2025 average residential price, from Magic Valley Electric Cooperative (Texas) (10.51¢ per kWh) to SDG&E (California) (45.77¢ per kWh³).

Businesses

• Commercial electricity rates by state covers shops, offices and other businesses over the 12 months from September 2025 to August 2026: North Dakota lowest (7.58¢ per kWh), Hawaii highest (40.31¢ per kWh).
• Industrial electricity rates by state covers factories and mines over the same 12 months: New Mexico lowest (5.30¢ per kWh), Hawaii highest (35.63¢ per kWh¹).

Reliability, generation and solar

• Power outages by state ranks the minutes the average customer was without power in 2025, major storms included: West Virginia had the most (1,013 minutes) and the District of Columbia the least (50 minutes⁴).
• Renewable electricity by state ranks the share of in-state generation from hydro, wind, solar, geothermal and biomass in 2025, from Vermont (99.8%) to New Jersey (3.6%⁵).
• Rooftop solar and net metering by state ranks net-metered residential solar installations per thousand residential customers in 2025, led by Hawaii (232.3⁶).

Why the rankings name different leaders

A price ranking and a bill ranking answer different questions. A bill is price times use, so a state with a below-median price can have a high bill if its homes run air conditioning most of the year: the bill ranking and the usage ranking explain each other. Business and home prices also diverge, because large industrial customers take power at high voltage and use it around the clock.

The period matters as much as the measure. In August 2026 alone, the lowest residential price was in Nevada (12.72¢ per kWh); over the 12 months it was North Dakota. Over the last two years, 5¹ different states have had the lowest price in at least one month. The insight why electricity price rankings disagree shows how a one-month table mostly measures the season, which is why our price rankings use 12 months and show the latest month beside it.

How to read the tables

• Ties. Values are ranked at full precision, and states with the same rounded value are shown as tied. At the bottom of the renewable ranking, New Jersey and Connecticut both show 3.6%⁵ in 2025.
• Averages, not tariffs. Every price is average revenue per kWh: what customers paid in total divided by what they used. It includes fixed charges and riders and excludes most taxes, so it will not match a line on a tariff.
• Choice states. In states with retail choice, the bundled residential price covers customers who buy from their utility; those on a supplier pay a separate supply price, which the retail choice overview shows.
• Preliminary months. Monthly figures since January 2026 are preliminary and EIA can revise them, so a close rank can move at the next release.
• States, not cities. EIA does not publish city prices. Within a state, the utility pages show what each utility's customers paid.

Every ranking is rebuilt at each EIA release listed on the updates page, and the underlying values are in the data downloads.