Electricity tools

Which tool to use

Electric bill calculator

Use it to estimate a typical monthly bill, to check whether your own bill is in line with your area, or to budget for a new home. It multiplies your kWh by the average residential price of the state or utility you pick. With no changes it shows the average US home: 874 kWh¹ a month at 18.04¢ per kWh², the average over the 12 months from September 2025 to August 2026.

Compare electricity rates

Use it before a move, or to see how your utility stands against a neighbour. It sets price, bill, use, the change over 12 months, business prices, outage minutes and the renewable share side by side. For a move, look at the bill line as well as the price: homes in Louisiana used 1,225 kWh a month in 2025, against 494 kWh in California¹.

Electric rate explainer

Use it when you have your utility's rate schedule, a time-of-use plan or a supplier's contract and want to know what it means for a month's bill. It adds a fixed charge, energy charges (flat, tiered or by time of day), riders and taxes, and divides the total by your kWh.

What data feeds each tool

The calculator and the comparison use EIA figures. State values come from the monthly survey (Form EIA-861M) for the last 12 months and from EIA's final annual utility census (Form EIA-861) for 2025. Utility values use the annual census for every utility, and the last 12 months for the 152³ utilities with pages that EIA samples every month. The comparison adds EIA reliability and generation data. The figures refresh after each release on the updates page; the latest month is August 2026², and monthly figures since January 2026 are preliminary.

The rate explainer uses no stored data at all: it works only with the charges you type in, so it fits any tariff in any state.

Limits to keep in mind

• Averages, not your tariff. EIA's price is what all customers paid divided by what they used. It already spreads fixed charges and riders over an average amount of use, so a very small or very large user will see a different price per kWh. The fixed charges guide explains why.
• Taxes. EIA's averages exclude most state and local taxes, so a real bill is usually a little higher than the calculator's estimate.
• No city prices. EIA publishes states and utilities, not cities. Which utility serves an address is decided by the utility's own service map; the utility pages list the counties each one serves.
• Retail choice. In choice states, the bundled price covers customers who buy from their utility. If you buy from a supplier, type the all-in price from your bill into the calculator, or use the rate explainer with the supplier's price and the utility's delivery charges. The Price to Compare guide shows how to test an offer.
• Seasons. A 12-month average hides the summer or winter peak. Your own bill history shows it, and the insight on summer vs winter electric bills shows which month peaks in each state.

For the arithmetic behind all three tools, read how to calculate electricity cost.