Cheapest and most expensive electric utilities

This ranking covers the 177 utility-state pairs with 100,000 or more residential customers that report a full-service residential price to EIA, for the calendar year 2025. The measure is average revenue per kWh: what full-service homes paid the utility in total, fixed charges and riders included, divided by the kWh they used. It comes from EIA-861, the annual census of every US utility, in its final release of October 7, 2026. The median utility on the list averaged 15.07¢ per kWh¹.

The ten lowest averages: co-ops, cities and one investor-owned utility

The ten utilities whose homes paid the least per kWh in 2025 were Magic Valley Electric Cooperative (Texas), Clark Public Utilities (Washington), Lincoln Electric System (Nebraska), MidAmerican Energy (Iowa), Tacoma Public Utilities (Washington), Cobb EMC (Georgia), SLEMCO (Louisiana), Bluebonnet Electric Cooperative (Texas), EnergyUnited (North Carolina) and City Utilities of Springfield (Missouri). They range from 10.51¢ per kWh to 11.65¢ per kWh¹, close enough together that small changes from one year to the next can reorder them.

Ownership is the common thread. Magic Valley, Cobb EMC, SLEMCO, Bluebonnet and EnergyUnited are electric cooperatives. Lincoln Electric System, Tacoma Public Utilities and City Utilities of Springfield belong to their cities, and Clark Public Utilities is a public utility district. EIA describes the three models in Electricity explained: delivery to consumers: investor-owned utilities are owned by stockholders, municipal utilities by a city or local government, cooperatives by their members. The one investor-owned utility in the bottom ten is MidAmerican Energy in Iowa (11.21¢ per kWh¹).

Across all utilities, not just the large ones, the same order holds on average. In 2025 homes served by cooperatives paid 14.10¢ per kWh, homes served by public power 14.49¢ per kWh, and homes served by investor-owned utilities 17.78¢ per kWh¹.

Investor-owned utilities17.78¢

Electric cooperatives14.10¢

Public power (municipal, districts, state)14.49¢

Source: EIA-861 annual electric power industry report, 2025 final. Bundled (full-service) residential revenue divided by kWh, summed over every utility of each type (EIA-861 2025). Small utilities filing the short form report no residential split and are not included.

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Type	¢/kWh	Residential customers
Investor-owned utilities	17.78¢	81,897,613
Electric cooperatives	14.10¢	18,637,750
Public power (municipal, districts, state)	14.49¢	18,508,158

The cheap end also says something about place. Two of the ten are Texas cooperatives: Magic Valley in far South Texas (Brooks County, Cameron County, Hidalgo County, Kenedy County, Starr County and Willacy County²) and Bluebonnet. Both report a full-service price because their members buy energy and delivery from the co-op itself. Texas's large delivery utilities, such as Oncor, do not sell electricity to homes; their customers buy from retail electric providers, so EIA records no full-service price for them and they are not in this table. How that market works is explained in the Texas retail choice guide.

The ten highest: California, New England, Hawaii and New York City

All ten of the most expensive utilities are investor-owned. SDG&E (California) led at 45.77¢ per kWh, then Hawaiian Electric (Hawaii) (40.54¢ per kWh), PG&E (California) (37.52¢ per kWh), Con Edison (New York) (36.74¢ per kWh) and United Illuminating (Connecticut) (35.40¢ per kWh). The rest of the top ten were National Grid (Massachusetts), Southern California Edison (California), Versant Power (Maine), Rhode Island Energy (Rhode Island) and Eversource (Connecticut), down to 28.88¢ per kWh¹.

They cluster by region. SDG&E, PG&E and Southern California Edison all appear, and the New England entries are United Illuminating, National Grid, Versant Power, Rhode Island Energy and Eversource in Connecticut. Even within a high-priced state the leaders stand out: SDG&E's homes paid 46.0% above the California average, and Con Edison's paid 39.2% above the New York average, while National Grid's upstate New York homes paid 24.6% below the New York average. Hawaiian Electric (40.54¢ per kWh¹) is the only one outside the contiguous states.

Eversource (CT)28.88¢

Rhode Island Energy (RI)29.45¢

Versant Power (ME)30.93¢

Southern California Edison (CA)31.48¢

National Grid (MA)33.66¢

United Illuminating (CT)35.40¢

Con Edison (NY)36.74¢

PG&E (CA)37.52¢

Hawaiian Electric (HI)40.54¢

SDG&E (CA)45.77¢

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 residential price (bundled customers)
Eversource (CT)	28.88¢
Rhode Island Energy (RI)	29.45¢
Versant Power (ME)	30.93¢
Southern California Edison (CA)	31.48¢
National Grid (MA)	33.66¢
United Illuminating (CT)	35.40¢
Con Edison (NY)	36.74¢
PG&E (CA)	37.52¢
Hawaiian Electric (HI)	40.54¢
SDG&E (CA)	45.77¢

A low price per kWh is not a low bill

The ranking is per kWh. What a household notices is the monthly bill, and the order changes once use is counted. In 2025, SDG&E's homes paid the highest average price of any large utility but used only 367 kWh a month, for an average bill of $167.87. SLEMCO's homes in Louisiana paid 11.57¢ per kWh but used 1,404 kWh a month, and their average bill came to $162.40¹.

Con Edison shows the same pattern more strongly: an average bill of $137.10 on 373 kWh a month, below Magic Valley's $140.46 on 1,336 kWh. Among the utilities at the two ends of the price list, the lowest bills were in the Midwest, where use is moderate and prices are low: MidAmerican Energy averaged $92.85 and Lincoln Electric System $93.59. The highest was Eversource in Connecticut, at $195.35¹.

MidAmerican Energy (IA)$92.85

Lincoln Electric System (NE)$93.59

City Utilities of Springfield (MO)$100.80

Clark Public Utilities (WA)$104.50

Tacoma Public Utilities (WA)$105.14

Cobb EMC (GA)$128.80

Con Edison (NY)$137.10

Magic Valley Electric Cooperative (TX)$140.46

EnergyUnited (NC)$141.14

Bluebonnet Electric Cooperative (TX)$144.15

Southern California Edison (CA)$149.07

Versant Power (ME)$151.41

SLEMCO (LA)$162.40

National Grid (MA)$163.79

Rhode Island Energy (RI)$165.83

SDG&E (CA)$167.87

PG&E (CA)$173.95

United Illuminating (CT)$182.78

Hawaiian Electric (HI)$189.90

Eversource (CT)$195.35

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
MidAmerican Energy (IA)	$92.85
Lincoln Electric System (NE)	$93.59
City Utilities of Springfield (MO)	$100.80
Clark Public Utilities (WA)	$104.50
Tacoma Public Utilities (WA)	$105.14
Cobb EMC (GA)	$128.80
Con Edison (NY)	$137.10
Magic Valley Electric Cooperative (TX)	$140.46
EnergyUnited (NC)	$141.14
Bluebonnet Electric Cooperative (TX)	$144.15
Southern California Edison (CA)	$149.07
Versant Power (ME)	$151.41
SLEMCO (LA)	$162.40
National Grid (MA)	$163.79
Rhode Island Energy (RI)	$165.83
SDG&E (CA)	$167.87
PG&E (CA)	$173.95
United Illuminating (CT)	$182.78
Hawaiian Electric (HI)	$189.90
Eversource (CT)	$195.35

The bill gap follows use per home more closely than price. The guide to high electric bills walks through how use, season and fixed charges shape a bill.

In retail-choice states, the price covers a shrinking group

Every utility in the top ten except Hawaiian Electric operates where homes can buy their supply from a competitive supplier or a community choice aggregator (CCA) and pay the utility only for delivery. The ranked price counts only the homes that still buy full service from the utility (default service). In 2025 that was a minority at several of them: 79.4% of SDG&E's residential delivery customers bought supply elsewhere, as did 65.6% at PG&E and 64.4%¹ at National Grid in Massachusetts.

For those other customers EIA records a separate, delivery-only figure: what the utility billed them for delivery, per kWh. At SDG&E it averaged 27.33¢ per kWh; at PG&E, 24.60¢ per kWh¹. Their supply was billed by the CCA or supplier and is reported separately, so neither delivery figure is a full bill and neither can be compared with the full-service price. The California retail choice guide and Massachusetts guide show each part of those markets side by side.

One company, different prices state by state

EIA reports each utility separately in each state it serves, and so does this ranking. Holding companies therefore appear more than once, at very different positions. Eversource's Connecticut utility ranked 10th highest of 177 at 28.88¢ per kWh; its New Hampshire utility ranked 18th highest of 177 (24.17¢ per kWh) and its Massachusetts utility 28th highest of 177 (21.49¢ per kWh). National Grid's Massachusetts utility was 6th highest of 177, while its upstate New York utility was 36th highest of 177 at 19.89¢ per kWh¹.

Eversource (MA)21.49¢

Eversource (NH)24.17¢

Eversource (CT)28.88¢

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 residential price (bundled customers)
Eversource (MA)	21.49¢
Eversource (NH)	24.17¢
Eversource (CT)	28.88¢

A brand name alone does not tell you where a household sits in the ranking; the state does. The Eversource and National Grid pages compare each company's utilities in full.

Why this ranking uses 2025, not the last 12 months

The state rankings on this site use the most recent 12 months of EIA's monthly data. A utility ranking cannot: EIA's monthly survey samples only 152³ of these 177 utilities, and the sample misses several on the cheap list, including Magic Valley itself, SLEMCO, Bluebonnet and EnergyUnited. The annual census counts all of them, so 2025 is the latest year in which every large utility can be compared on the same footing. The next annual release is due in August 2027.

For utilities in the sample, the 12 months from September 2025 to August 2026 (preliminary figures) show how far a year-old ranking can drift. SDG&E's homes paid 47.56¢ per kWh over those 12 months, against 45.77¢ per kWh in 2025; Hawaiian Electric's paid 44.75¢ per kWh, against 40.54¢ per kWh¹. At the cheap end, Clark Public Utilities averaged 10.66¢ per kWh³, almost unchanged. Each utility's page carries its latest 12-month and monthly figures where EIA publishes them.

Reading the table correctly

• It is not a list of companies you can pick. Utilities serve fixed territories. The utility's own service map decides which one serves an address; state pages list the utilities reported in each county.
• It is not a tariff. A utility's tariff sets fixed charges, per-kWh charges, tiers and time-of-use periods. The average here folds all of them together, so a home's own price per kWh depends on its use and its rate plan.
• Small utilities are not ranked. EIA has 3,037¹ utility records with customers in 2025; this list keeps the 177 with 100,000 or more residential customers and a full-service price. Smaller co-ops and municipal systems appear on each state's page.
• Supplier and retail-provider prices are excluded. What competitive suppliers and Texas retail providers charged is reported in other parts of EIA's census and is never mixed into this ranking. For state-level averages, see the cheapest electricity by state.