Commercial electricity rates by state

The answer: business prices by state, last 12 months

Commercial customers in North Dakota paid an average of 7.58¢ per kWh over the 12 months from September 2025 to August 2026, the lowest of the 50 states and DC. Texas (8.57¢ per kWh) and Nebraska (8.88¢ per kWh) came next. At the other end, Hawaii paid 40.31¢ per kWh, then California (27.00¢ per kWh) and Massachusetts (24.17¢ per kWh). The US average was 13.87¢ per kWh and the median state 12.56¢ per kWh¹.

"Commercial" is EIA's customer class, not a business size. EIA's glossary defines the sector as service-providing businesses, federal, state and local governments, and other private and public organizations, so one class holds a corner shop, an office tower, a school district and a hospital. Manufacturers and mines are industrial customers and have their own ranking.

Each figure is average revenue per kWh: all commercial revenue billed in the state divided by the kilowatt-hours sold, from EIA's monthly survey (EIA-861M), with months since January 2026 still preliminary. It counts what utilities and competitive suppliers billed, fixed charges and adjustments included, and mostly leaves out taxes. The full table below adds the latest month, the 2025 average bill and the change from the previous 12 months.

Where business electricity costs the least

The ten lowest-priced states over the 12 months were North Dakota, Texas, Nebraska, Oklahoma, Nevada, Idaho, Wyoming, Oregon, Utah and North Carolina, between 7.58¢ per kWh and 10.57¢ per kWh¹.

Texas had the 2nd lowest commercial average. Its commercial customers paid 8.57¢ per kWh over the 12 months to August 2026, 38.2% below the US average, and the change from the 12 months before was +0.1% against +5.7% nationally. In the competitive part of Texas, businesses buy from retail electric providers; the state average covers what those providers and the utilities billed together, so it is a past average across all contracts, not a price any business can sign today. Homes in Texas paid 15.98¢ per kWh over the same months, and industrial customers 6.65¢ per kWh¹.

TexasUnited States

Residential15.98¢ 18.04¢

Commercial8.57¢ 13.87¢

Industrial6.65¢ 8.91¢

All sectors10.32¢ 14.15¢

Source: EIA, Electric Power Monthly / EIA-861M sales and revenue by state. Average revenue per kWh: what each customer class paid in total divided by what it used. Industrial customers take power at higher voltage and in large, steady volumes, so their average is lower. Monthly EIA data through August 2026 (released October 23, 2026); months since January 2026 are preliminary.

Show the numbers

Sector	Texas (¢/kWh)	United States (¢/kWh)
Residential	15.98¢	18.04¢
Commercial	8.57¢	13.87¢
Industrial	6.65¢	8.91¢
All sectors	10.32¢	14.15¢

Where it costs the most

Hawaii (40.31¢ per kWh) and California (27.00¢ per kWh) lead. In Hawaii petroleum supplied 74.9%⁴ of the electricity generated in 2025. The rest of the top ten were Massachusetts, Rhode Island, the District of Columbia, Alaska, New York, Maine, Connecticut and New Hampshire, the last at 21.12¢ per kWh¹ over the 12 months.

New York ranked 7th highest at 22.28¢ per kWh over the 12 months, 60.6% above the US average. Its commercial average rose 9.5%¹ from the 12 months before. The table sets the most expensive states beside their residential and industrial averages for the same period.

Businesses pay less per kWh than homes, but the gap varies

Nationally, commercial customers paid 13.87¢ per kWh over the 12 months from September 2025 to August 2026, homes 18.04¢ per kWh and industrial customers 8.91¢ per kWh¹. Larger accounts spread fixed costs over more kWh, and the largest take power at higher voltage, using less of the local distribution network.

The distance between the two classes is not constant. Over the same 12 months, in Texas the commercial average was 8.57¢ per kWh against 15.98¢ per kWh for homes; in Tennessee the two were 13.27¢ per kWh and 13.61¢ per kWh¹. A business moving between states can therefore see a different change in its bill than a household would. The scatter puts each state's commercial average against its residential one.

Source: EIA, Electric Power Monthly / EIA-861M sales and revenue by state. Each dot is a state (horizontal: Residential ¢/kWh, 12 months; vertical: Commercial ¢/kWh, 12 months). Residential revenue divided by kilowatt-hours sold over the 12 months 2025-09 to 2026-08 (EIA-861M; months since January 2026 preliminary). Average revenue per kWh, all charges included; not a tariff. Period: September 2025 to August 2026. Commercial revenue divided by kilowatt-hours sold over the 12 months 2025-09 to 2026-08 (EIA-861M; months since January 2026 preliminary). Average revenue per kWh, all charges included; not a tariff. Period: September 2025 to August 2026.

Show the numbers

State	Residential ¢/kWh, 12 months	Commercial ¢/kWh, 12 months
North Dakota	12.35¢	7.58¢
Nebraska	12.74¢	8.88¢
Idaho	12.77¢	9.62¢
Louisiana	13.02¢	11.50¢
Utah	13.26¢	10.32¢
Nevada	13.45¢	9.34¢
Arkansas	13.57¢	11.34¢
Tennessee	13.61¢	13.27¢
Oklahoma	13.81¢	9.30¢
Kentucky	13.94¢	12.37¢
Montana	13.94¢	12.67¢
Missouri	13.97¢	10.91¢
Wyoming	14.01¢	9.73¢
Iowa	14.20¢	11.28¢
Washington	14.20¢	11.65¢
South Dakota	14.28¢	11.34¢
North Carolina	14.79¢	10.57¢
Mississippi	14.85¢	13.77¢
Kansas	15.13¢	11.60¢
Georgia	15.17¢	11.76¢
New Mexico	15.31¢	10.94¢
Arizona	15.39¢	12.22¢
Florida	15.41¢	11.74¢
Oregon	15.53¢	10.29¢
West Virginia	15.53¢	11.68¢
South Carolina	15.77¢	11.68¢
Texas	15.98¢	8.57¢
Minnesota	16.28¢	12.56¢
Alabama	16.44¢	14.77¢
Colorado	16.61¢	13.14¢
Virginia	16.64¢	10.98¢
Indiana	16.90¢	13.81¢
Delaware	17.98¢	13.61¢
Ohio	18.41¢	13.22¢
Wisconsin	18.79¢	13.49¢
Illinois	18.91¢	13.81¢
Pennsylvania	20.86¢	13.59¢
Maryland	21.18¢	16.61¢
Michigan	21.28¢	15.34¢
New Jersey	23.74¢	17.39¢
Vermont	23.90¢	20.78¢
District of Columbia	24.48¢	22.92¢
Alaska	26.94¢	22.79¢
New Hampshire	26.95¢	21.12¢
Connecticut	27.42¢	21.69¢
New York	28.60¢	22.28¢
Rhode Island	29.44¢	23.60¢
Maine	29.60¢	22.22¢
Massachusetts	30.39¢	24.17¢
California	32.34¢	27.00¢
Hawaii	44.27¢	40.31¢

How much commercial prices rose in 12 months

The US commercial average rose 5.7% between the 12 months from September 2025 to August 2026 and the 12 months before; the median state rose +5.2%. In 8 of the 50 states and DC the increase was 10% or more, and 4¹ saw a decrease.

Over the 12 months, the largest increases were in the District of Columbia (+20.3%), Ohio (+20.1%), Maryland (+18.5%), Virginia (+17.4%) and Pennsylvania (+14.7%¹). Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory's 2026 review of retail price trends reports that in PJM, the wholesale market that covers DC, Maryland, Ohio and Pennsylvania among other states, capacity costs added 0.9¢ per kWh to average wholesale costs in 2025 compared with 2024, and wholesale energy costs rose 1.7¢ per kWh as fuel prices rose. The review covers all customer classes, not businesses alone; it put the national commercial increase from 2024 to 2025 at +5.2%⁵.

At the bottom, Connecticut (−7.3%), Arizona (−1.8%) and West Virginia (−1.2%¹) had the lowest changes over the 12 months. The price increase ranking follows the same comparison for homes.

District of Columbia+20.3%

Ohio+20.1%

Maryland+18.5%

Virginia+17.4%

Pennsylvania+14.7%

Hawaii+10.8%

Maine+10.8%

Washington+10.6%

New York+9.5%

Colorado+9.0%

Illinois+9.0%

New Jersey+8.6%

Montana+8.2%

Delaware+7.9%

Arkansas+7.8%

United States+5.7%

Source: EIA, Electric Power Monthly / EIA-861M sales and revenue by state. Change between the trailing 12-month average price and the 12 months before it. Period: September 2025 to August 2026.

Show the numbers

State	Commercial change, 12 months
District of Columbia	+20.3%
Ohio	+20.1%
Maryland	+18.5%
Virginia	+17.4%
Pennsylvania	+14.7%
Hawaii	+10.8%
Maine	+10.8%
Washington	+10.6%
New York	+9.5%
Colorado	+9.0%
Illinois	+9.0%
New Jersey	+8.6%
Montana	+8.2%
Delaware	+7.9%
Arkansas	+7.8%
United States	+5.7%

The average business bill ranks states differently

EIA also publishes an average monthly bill per commercial account for 2025: $856.32 nationally, with a median state of $741.78². The bill ranking differs from the price ranking because a bill is price times use, and the typical commercial account is far larger in some states than in others.

In the District of Columbia the average commercial bill was $4,457.16 a month, the highest of the 50 states and DC, and the average account used 21,822 kWh a month, also the highest. Virginia had the 2nd highest bill ($1,608.32) although its 12-month commercial price, 10.98¢ per kWh, was 20.8% below the US average¹; its average account used 16,170 kWh a month. EIA attributes the growth in Virginia's commercial electricity sales largely to a concentration of data centers. In Montana, by contrast, the average account used 3,009 kWh a month and paid $357.44, the lowest² bill of the 50 states and DC.

North Dakota follows the same pattern as Virginia: the lowest¹ 12-month price, yet an average bill of $902.41 (13th highest), because its average commercial account used 12,253 kWh² a month. A state's average bill says little about what a particular shop or office pays.

Source: EIA, Electric Power Monthly / EIA-861M sales and revenue by state; EIA-861 2025, average monthly bill by state. Each dot is a state (horizontal: Commercial ¢/kWh, 12 months; vertical: Average commercial use, 2025). Commercial revenue divided by kilowatt-hours sold over the 12 months 2025-09 to 2026-08 (EIA-861M; months since January 2026 preliminary). Average revenue per kWh, all charges included; not a tariff. Period: September 2025 to August 2026. Period: 2025.

Show the numbers

State	Commercial ¢/kWh, 12 months	Average commercial use, 2025
North Dakota	7.58¢	12,253
Texas	8.57¢	9,509
Nebraska	8.88¢	7,658
Oklahoma	9.30¢	7,365
Nevada	9.34¢	6,646
Idaho	9.62¢	4,690
Wyoming	9.73¢	7,823
Oregon	10.29¢	9,933
Utah	10.32¢	8,222
North Carolina	10.57¢	5,559
Missouri	10.91¢	6,211
New Mexico	10.94¢	5,266
Virginia	10.98¢	16,170
Iowa	11.28¢	4,488
Arkansas	11.34¢	4,773
South Dakota	11.34¢	5,672
Louisiana	11.50¢	6,629
Kansas	11.60¢	5,518
Washington	11.65¢	6,841
South Carolina	11.68¢	5,389
West Virginia	11.68¢	4,374
Florida	11.74¢	6,334
Georgia	11.76¢	7,605
Arizona	12.22¢	8,893
Kentucky	12.37¢	5,273
Minnesota	12.56¢	6,122
Montana	12.67¢	3,009
Colorado	13.14¢	4,304
Ohio	13.22¢	7,699
Tennessee	13.27¢	5,542
Wisconsin	13.49¢	5,339
Pennsylvania	13.59¢	4,522
Delaware	13.61¢	5,860
Mississippi	13.77¢	4,865
Illinois	13.81¢	5,997
Indiana	13.81¢	5,656
Alabama	14.77¢	4,829
Michigan	15.34¢	5,485
Maryland	16.61¢	8,786
New Jersey	17.39¢	5,702
Vermont	20.78¢	2,579
New Hampshire	21.12¢	3,106
Connecticut	21.69¢	6,190
Maine	22.22¢	3,027
New York	22.28¢	5,127
Alaska	22.79¢	3,766
District of Columbia	22.92¢	21,822
Rhode Island	23.60¢	4,718
Massachusetts	24.17¢	4,776
California	27.00¢	5,360
Hawaii	40.31¢	3,937

The latest single month

In August 2026, the newest preliminary month, US commercial customers paid an average of 14.47¢ per kWh, up 4.3% from 13.87¢ per kWh in August 2025. North Dakota was lowest (8.07¢ per kWh) and Hawaii highest (43.55¢ per kWh¹). Summer months can carry higher prices, so a single month should be compared with the same month a year earlier, not with the 12-month figures. EIA publishes September 2026 data on November 24, 2026.

Using these averages for a business

• They are not tariffs. A business pays its utility's commercial tariff or a supplier contract. Many commercial tariffs bill peak demand (kW) as well as energy (kWh), so two businesses using the same kWh can end up with different averages per kWh.
• Small and large accounts are mixed. A state average blends small storefronts with large buildings that pay less per kWh. A small business can pay above its state's figure.
• Prices differ inside a state. Utilities in the same state report different commercial averages; each state page lists its utilities and the counties they serve, and the utility's own map decides by address.
• No supplier offers. In retail-choice states the averages include what suppliers billed in the past. They are not quotes, and this site does not compare or recommend suppliers.
• Homes are ranked separately. For residential prices see the cheapest electricity by state.