Locator: 51242ELECTRICITY.
By state.
All sectors: only two states with an 8-handle: New Mexico, 8.07 cents; and North Dakota, 8.67 cents.
Residential: only four states with a 13-handle, despite record-setting a/c use / hot summer -- Missouri, Nebraska, Oklahoma, and North Dakota. BUT, Utah and Idaho with a 12-handle.
Industrial: California with a 20-handle vs so many states with a 6-handle. NY state is below 10 cents. Amazing.
Locator: 51094ELECTRICITY.
Residential:
Commercial:
Industrial:
All sectors:
Locator: 50072ELECTRICITY.
Tag: electricity states.
October, 2025, data was posted here back on December 29, 2025.
New data is for December, 2025.
In a long note like this, there will be content and typographical errors.
Average price of electricity by state, December, 2025, data.
There are five "sectors": residential, commercial, industrial, transportation, and all sources. I generally ignore the fourth column (transportation).
For the larger energy-using states, the most important sector is the last column, "all sectors."
For tech-heavy states, most important is the third column, industrial.
For individual Americans, I suppose, the most important column is the first column, residential.
So, let's break it down, least expensive in each sector:
Comments:
The state not listed above that interests me most: California:
Locator: 49848ELECTRICITY.
Tag: electricity states.
October, 2025, data was posted here back on December 29, 2025.
New data is for November, 2025.
In a long note like this, there will be content and typographical errors.
Average price of electricity by state, November, 2025, data.
There are five "sectors": residential, commercial, industrial, transportation, and all sources. I generally ignore the fourth column (transportation).
For the larger energy-using states, the most important sector is the last column, "all sectors."
For tech-heavy states, most important is the third column, industrial.
For individual Americans, I suppose, the most important column is the first column, residential.
So, let's break it down, least expensive in each sector:
Comments:
The state not listed above that interests me most: California:
Locator: 49762ELECTRICITY.
In a long note like this, there will be content and typographical errors.
Average price of electricity by state, October, 2025, data.
There are five "sectors": residential, commercial, industrial, transportation, and all sources. I generally ignore the fourth column (transportation).
For the larger energy-using states, the most important sector is the last column, "all sectors."
For tech-heavy states, most important is the third column, industrial.
For individual Americans, I suppose, the most important column is the first column, residential.
So, let's break it down, least expensive three in each sector:
Comments:
The state not listed above that interests me most: California:
At this point, it would be very, very interesting to compare:
I have done that; it's difficult to ask the right question for AI to understand what one is asking.
This was most interesting:
But again, AI is considering a lot more than just natural gas / electricity in "utilities." AI also includes phone, internet, water, sewer, etc. At the end of the day, I can't make any sense of the numbers.
A swimming pool in Dallas: annual costs are $1,500 to $6,000 / year. Professional pool maintenance in Dallas, TX: about $150 to $300 / month.
Locator: 49596ELECTRICITY.
Industrial:
Locator: 49291ELECTRICITY.
Note: in a long note like this, there will be typographical and content errors. Go to the source if questions.
EIA: link here.
For previous month, July, 2025: link here.
For this month, August, 2025, below:
Regional average, this year, last year:
New England:
Middle Atlantic:
East North Central:
West North Central:
South Atlatic:
East South Central:
West South Central:
Mountain:
Pacific Contiguous:
Pacific Nonontiguous:
North Dakota
Minnesota
Outside Hawaii, Alaska, industrial:
Locator: 48845ELECTRICITY_STATE_RATES.
This was posted on a "sister" blog over the weekend, but now the story is starting to get legs. "They" say the sharp surge in electricity rates in New Jersey take effect in June, 2025, yet to be reported. Most recent EIA data is through May, 2025. See below. Posting this now to compare with new data when it's released next month. Some residents are complaining that their rates will go up 17 - 20% in June. We'll see what the EIA reports.
From The WSJ, opinion:
Despite flat electricity demand for the past two decades—and some of the lowest energy usage per capita among the 50 states—New Jersey residents pay some of the highest retail power prices in the country. As of April 2025, the Garden State ranked No. 12 in the nation, with prices more than 15% above the U.S. average. This gap has widened further in the wake of the recent decision by the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities to approve an additional 17% to 20% rate increase for most utility customers starting in June.
A decade ago, the outlook for New Jersey electricity prices was much brighter. The state was adding natural-gas generation capacity to take advantage of abundant, low-cost Marcellus Shale gas located next door in Pennsylvania. By 2016, New Jersey achieved energy independence by supplying all its power needs with in-state generation for the first time in its history, partially fueled by Pennsylvania gas.
Then the state threw it all away. Since electing Gov. Phil Murphy in November 2017, New Jersey has shut down all its coal plants, reduced its natural gas-generation capacity, and increased its reliance on intermittent wind and solar power. Trenton is on a quixotic quest to achieve 100% “clean” electricity production by 2035.
Under Mr. Murphy’s leadership, New Jersey has tilted at offshore windmills—none of which have been completed to date, mainly due to cost overruns, despite the state’s generous financial incentives. New Jersey has also subsidized the rollout of solar power (mostly nonutility scale) even though the state experiences only 94 days with less than 30% cloud cover in an average year. The state ranks seventh in the country for small-scale solar power generation, with rooftop and utility-pole solar panels now ubiquitous.
Such supply-side mismanagement has led to a 12% decrease in New Jersey’s electric-generating capacity since 2016. Over the same period, average residential power prices increased by almost a third even as consumption declined slightly. The shale revolution has led to a significant drop in U.S. natural-gas prices since the 2000s, but New Jersey electricity customers have seen no benefit in their monthly bills.
Much more at the link.
So, let's see electricity rates for New Jersey compared to the rest of New England and the Mid-Atlantic states.
Locator: 48678ELECTRICITY.
Note: in a blog like this with a lot of numbers / data points, there will be typographical and content errors.
This blog is being re-posted as originally posted back on June 4, 2025 (March, 2025, data) but the numbers are updated to reflect the most recent data, the May, 2025, data.
Link here to The New York Times.
Of course, Trump is being blamed.
Let's not mention New Yorkers refusing that natural gas pipeline.
From The New York Times:
The cost of electricity is rising across the country, forcing Americans to pay more on their monthly bills and squeezing manufacturers and small businesses that rely on cheap power.
And some of President Trump’s policies risk making things worse, despite his promises to slash energy prices, companies and researchers say.
This week, the Senate is taking up Mr. Trump’s sweeping domestic policy bill, which has already passed the House. In its current form, that bill would abruptly end most of the Biden-era federal tax credits for low-carbon sources of electricity like wind, solar, batteries and geothermal power.
Repealing those credits could increase the average family’s energy bill by as much as $400 per year within a decade, according to several studies published this year.
$400 / year at worst within a decade. Oh give me a break. Surging? As The New York Times says. At most, an increase of $400 / year within a decade.
So, on average, $40 / year increase.
Why didn't The New York Times say $4,000 over the next 100 years. Four-thousand dollars certainly sounds a lot worse than $400.
Average electricity bill in the US:
Texas, 2025: $170.63, higher than the national average due to increased consumption during extreme weather conditions.
Bottom line:
Whatever.
Probably consistent with inflation.
Americans have it so great. The rest of the world would like to have our energy costs.
What's killing Americans when it comes to inflation:
Residential electricity is not on that list.
Now, the most recent rates by state.
North Dakota, once again, the lowest among all 57 states, last column, all sectors.
North Dakota: 8.34 cents.
Iowa, poster child for wind: 8.99 cents.
Texas: 10.22 cents.
California: holy mackerel -- 26.03 cents! Is anyone paying attention?
Those numbers are in the final column, "all sectors."
For commercial which is much, much more expensive:
California, commercial:
North Dakota, commercial:
Residential costs: North Dakota is among the lowest, but not the lowest. For May, 2025:
Commercial costs: North Dakota is the lowest. For May, 2025:
Industrial costs: North Dakota is among the lowest but not the lowest, mostly because North Dakota does not have a large industrial base.
Locator: 48678ELECTRICITY.
Link here to The New York Times.
Of course, Trump is being blamed.
Let's not mention New Yorkers refusing that natural gas pipeline.
From The New York Times:
The cost of electricity is rising across the country, forcing Americans to pay more on their monthly bills and squeezing manufacturers and small businesses that rely on cheap power.
And some of President Trump’s policies risk making things worse, despite his promises to slash energy prices, companies and researchers say.
This week, the Senate is taking up Mr. Trump’s sweeping domestic policy bill, which has already passed the House. In its current form, that bill would abruptly end most of the Biden-era federal tax credits for low-carbon sources of electricity like wind, solar, batteries and geothermal power.
Repealing those credits could increase the average family’s energy bill by as much as $400 per year within a decade, according to several studies published this year.
$400 / year at worst within a decade. Oh give me a break. Surging? As The New York Times says. At most, an increase of $400 / year within a decade.
So, on average, $40 / year increase.
Why didn't The New York Times say $4,000 over the next 100 years. Four-thousand dollars certainly sounds a lot worse than $400.
Average electricity bill in the US:
Texas, 2025: $170.63, higher than the national average due to increased consumption during extreme weather conditions.
Bottom line:
Whatever.
Probably consistent with inflation.
Americans have it so great. The rest of the world would like to have our energy costs.
What's killing Americans when it comes to inflation:
Residential electricity is not on that list.
Now, the most recent rates by state.
North Dakota, once again, the lowest among all 57 states.
North Dakota: 11.08 cents.
Iowa, poster child for wind: 12.55 cents.
Texas: 15.30 cents.
California: holy mackerel -- 32.41 cents! Is anyone paying attention?
That's residential. For commercial which is much, much more expensive:
California, commercial:
North Dakota, commercial:
Locator: 48631ELECTRICITY.
Of the eight states in the West North Cental region, as defined by the EIA, Minneosta is clearly the outlier.
Locator: 48501ELECTRICITY.
Electric rates, cents / kWh, by state, residential, December, 2024:
Locator: 44556ELECTRICITY.
Observations:
The New England numbers, particularly Rhode Island, were so egregious in the original post, I was wondering if I made a mistake in my math. Nope.
Link here. Offshore wind comes at high cost to Northeast taxpayer.
Today, Rhode Island’s residential electricity costs nearly two and half times more than the U.S. average. Over the past decade, the state’s electricity prices have risen 81 percent, two-and-a-half times the rate of increase of the average U.S. residential price. Why is it so expensive? Renewable energy and green mandates. Is it going to get more expensive? Yes, and offshore wind will be the primary driver.
Link here. Offshore wind project will save New England taxpayers $3.75 / month / capita.
Link here. Same.
Original Post
From October, 2022, to October, 2024, two years later, residential electricity rates increased by:
Meanwhile, over the same period, residential electricity rates decreased by:
The raw data has been double / triple checked as reported by the EIA. Calculations need to be checked; I often make simple arithmetic errors.
Just two of the many Rhode Island off-shore wind stories since 2014. If you want to see more, search on the blog: Rhode Island wind. This is exactly what happened to Germany.
From the blog, August 2, 2020:
Wind power: expensive! This is from the NY Post so almost "no one" will pay attention, but those who do will think it's a fake story -- wind costing upwards of $500 / MWh.
Of course, in North Dakota where coal and natural gas is used, one can see electricity as low as $30 / MWh. One can track electricity rates in New England and in New York.
From the linked NY Post article:
Consider Rhode Island’s 30-megawatt, six-turbine offshore wind project located off Block Island and operated by Deepwater Wind. A decade ago, Rhode Island’s public utility commission rejected the project, concluding that the sky-high prices it would charge the local electric utility would adversely affect consumers. Yet the Rhode Island legislature ignored consumer interests and forced the commission to approve a 20-year contract.At the start, in 2016, the local utility paid $245 per megawatt-hour for the project’s electricity, with a guaranteed increase of 3.5 percent each year. In 2035, the last year of the contract, the price will be an eye-popping $470 per MWh. By contrast, the average price of wholesale electricity in New England last year was about $31/MWh. In New York, average prices ranged between $22 per MWh upstate to $51 per MWh in Gotham.Elsewhere, the dozen offshore projects now under development have lower-priced contracts, but they are still far higher than market prices. In New York, the first-year prices for the 816 MW Empire Wind and 880 MW Sunrise Wind projects will be $99/MWh and $110/MWh, respectively. And that’s cheap compared to electricity from some other wind projects in the Atlantic, which range from $77.76/MWh to $202/MWh.
From the blog, December 18, 2016:
A big "thank you" to a reader spotting this one. From IER, December 16, 2016, a most expensive offshore wind farm becomes operational. Data points (these are my original data points; some are in error, see updates above):
- off the coast of Rhode Island
- Block Island Wind Farm
- 30 MW facility -- repeat, a 30MW facility
- five large offshore turbines; GE Renewable Energy; operated by Deepwater Wind
- to supply energy to 1,000 full-time residents of Block Island (this was an error; see update at link)
- years and years of state / federal / town hall meetings / yada, yada, yada
- $300 million
- $10,000/kw
- 10 times more than the cost of a new natural gas combined cycle unit
- 58% more costly than what the EIA expects a first-of-a-kind offshore wind unit to cost
********************************
The Book Page
So, what am I reading during the holiday break?
A Hell of a Storm: The Battle For Kansas, The End of Compromise, and the Coming of the Civil War, David S. Brown, c. 2024.
The New India: The Unmaking of the World's Largest Democracy, Rahul Bhatia, c. 2024. Part of the trilogy I have put together.
The Greeks: A Global History, Roderick Beaton, c. 2021.
Sharks of the World: A Complete Guide, David A Ebert, Mare Dando and Sarah Fowler, c. 2013. With Sophia.
The Shakespeare Guide to Italy: Retracing The Bard's Unknown Travels, Richard Paul Roe, c. 2011.
The Greeks: A Global History, Roderick Beaton, c. 2021.
Locator: 48431ELECTRICITY.
Electricity demand surging: great interactive article in The WSJ today. Link here.
Which immediately takes us to California: link here.
Re-posting:
Electric rates tracked here by the EIA.
Residential electric rates, cents per kWh, May, 2024, for selected states:
But, cost of electricity is like the US postage stamp: for residential demand, it's not the cost/kWh, it's the amount of electricity actually used per household/month. For US postage stamps, it's not the cost per stamp, it's the overall cost of mailing for non-commercial users. See household demand by state at this link. Average monthly use by household:
Coincidentally, this was posted yesterday:
Which takes me to SRE. Ticker:
ERCOT: link here. Holding, but will be challenging through the rest of the month of August.
Locator: 48425ELECTRICITY.
Much of this was re-posted from earlier because the CNBC folks today were very excited about these new nuclear reactors coming on line, and suggesting this could be the turning point for nuclear energy in the US going forward.
Nuclear reactor: two new units come on line. Absurdly expensive and took "forever" to build. Unit 3 and unit 4 -- big fanfare on CNBC today about bringing these two units online, and "what it might mean for nuclear future in the US" LOL.
A transformer fire in last 24 hours in Unit 1 was not mentioned, but here's the story.
The Vogtle plant in Georgia, wiki. The huge cost increase will result in significantly higher utility bills for Georgia customers.
And then this, the absurdly high cost:
Units 1 and 2 were completed in 1987 and 1989. The cost of these two units jumped from an estimated $660 million to almost $9 billion. [28x $660 million = $19 billion.]
Primary construction for Unit 3 began in 2009; completed in July, 2023.
Unit 4 came on line on April 29, 2024.
For units 3 and 4 combined, 2018 price estimates, $25 billion. By 2021, price estimates were almost $30 billion. In 2023, costs had increased to $34 billion, with work still to be completed on Vogtle 4. At $35 billion, 84% more expensive than the units 1 and 2, combined (1.84 x 19 - 35).
Per kWh:
units 1 and 2, combined, $9 billion / 2,430 MW = $3,703,703 / MW
units 3 and 4, combined, $35 billion / 2,106 MW = $16,619,183 / MW
Cost per wiki:
Electric rates tracked here by the EIA.
Residential electric rates, cents per kWh, May, 2024, for selected states:
Locator: 46837ELECTRICITY.
North Dakota: on both charts below, look at North Dakota. You have to go to the bottom of both charts to find North Dakota. This is why data centers and bitcoin miners prefer North Dakota.
Reminder: in the US, one new data center is coming on line every three days.
|
State |
December 2023 |
October 2023 |
October 2022 |
Change |
|
RI |
30.88 |
18.64 |
16.65 |
85.47% |
|
ME |
28.04 |
16.16 |
16.17 |
73.41% |
|
MA |
28.85 |
21.11 |
18.56 |
55.44% |
|
CA |
29.11 |
19.90 |
19.39 |
50.13% |
|
HI |
41.60 |
32.76 |
30.45 |
36.62% |
|
NV |
15.55 |
11.67 |
11.64 |
33.59% |
|
DC |
17.75 |
13.21 |
13.40 |
32.46% |
|
CT |
26.86 |
21.62 |
20.47 |
31.22% |
|
TX |
14.58 |
11.36 |
11.15 |
30.76% |
|
DE |
16.32 |
12.05 |
12.59 |
29.63% |
|
NH |
24.98 |
19.63 |
19.30 |
29.43% |
|
FL |
15.26 |
11.37 |
12.02 |
26.96% |
|
OH |
15.69 |
12.64 |
12.67 |
23.84% |
|
MD |
17.46 |
13.92 |
14.22 |
22.78% |
|
IN |
14.58 |
12.02 |
12.05 |
21.00% |
|
PA |
17.53 |
14.38 |
14.52 |
20.73% |
|
NY |
22.52 |
18.30 |
18.76 |
20.04% |
|
NC |
13.22 |
11.24 |
11.07 |
19.42% |
|
VT |
21.09 |
18.50 |
18.02 |
17.04% |
|
MI |
18.55 |
16.07 |
15.86 |
16.96% |
|
MS |
13.25 |
11.55 |
11.40 |
16.23% |
|
IL |
14.98 |
12.56 |
12.95 |
15.68% |
|
OR |
12.56 |
11.02 |
10.97 |
14.49% |
|
WV |
13.37 |
11.57 |
11.69 |
14.37% |
|
KY |
12.21 |
10.56 |
10.68 |
14.33% |
|
VA |
13.61 |
12.40 |
11.91 |
14.27% |
|
AZ |
14.41 |
13.16 |
12.65 |
13.91% |
|
LA |
11.40 |
9.37 |
10.19 |
11.87% |
|
TN |
12.18 |
10.79 |
10.93 |
11.44% |
|
CO |
14.15 |
12.28 |
12.75 |
10.98% |
|
WA |
11.00 |
9.79 |
9.95 |
10.55% |
|
AL |
14.13 |
12.41 |
12.79 |
10.48% |
|
NJ |
17.59 |
15.64 |
15.96 |
10.21% |
|
WI |
16.48 |
14.28 |
15.05 |
9.50% |
|
AR |
11.61 |
9.99 |
10.73 |
8.20% |
|
MT |
12.61 |
11.85 |
11.73 |
7.50% |
|
OK |
10.99 |
10.72 |
10.53 |
4.37% |
|
SC |
13.61 |
12.91 |
13.07 |
4.13% |
|
GA |
12.79 |
12.26 |
12.53 |
2.08% |
|
NM |
13.65 |
13.37 |
13.41 |
1.79% |
|
ID |
11.60 |
10.58 |
11.42 |
1.58% |
|
MN |
13.94 |
14.09 |
13.96 |
-0.14% |
|
KS |
12.96 |
11.56 |
13.56 |
-4.42% |
|
UT |
10.86 |
10.63 |
11.48 |
-5.40% |
|
SD |
11.69 |
12.39 |
12.57 |
-7.00% |
|
WY |
11.21 |
12.30 |
12.21 |
-8.19% |
|
NE |
10.58 |
11.31 |
12.06 |
-12.27% |
|
IA |
11.88 |
13.81 |
13.92 |
-14.66% |
|
MO |
11.20 |
13.23 |
13.25 |
-15.47% |
|
ND |
10.23 |
12.07 |
12.34 |
-17.10% |
|
AK |
11.61 |
22.54 |
22.14 |
-47.56% |
Change: From October, 2022 - December, 2022
The above chart was ranked on change, y/y.
The chart below is ranked on actual cost of residential energy, highest to lowest.
Note the state with the lowest rates. During the winter.
|
State |
December 2023 |
October 2023 |
October 2022 |
Change |
|
HI |
41.60 |
32.76 |
30.45 |
36.62% |
|
RI |
30.88 |
18.64 |
16.65 |
85.47% |
|
CA |
29.11 |
19.90 |
19.39 |
50.13% |
|
MA |
28.85 |
21.11 |
18.56 |
55.44% |
|
ME |
28.04 |
16.16 |
16.17 |
73.41% |
|
CT |
26.86 |
21.62 |
20.47 |
31.22% |
|
NH |
24.98 |
19.63 |
19.30 |
29.43% |
|
NY |
22.52 |
18.30 |
18.76 |
20.04% |
|
VT |
21.09 |
18.50 |
18.02 |
17.04% |
|
MI |
18.55 |
16.07 |
15.86 |
16.96% |
|
DC |
17.75 |
13.21 |
13.40 |
32.46% |
|
NJ |
17.59 |
15.64 |
15.96 |
10.21% |
|
PA |
17.53 |
14.38 |
14.52 |
20.73% |
|
MD |
17.46 |
13.92 |
14.22 |
22.78% |
|
WI |
16.48 |
14.28 |
15.05 |
9.50% |
|
DE |
16.32 |
12.05 |
12.59 |
29.63% |
|
OH |
15.69 |
12.64 |
12.67 |
23.84% |
|
NV |
15.55 |
11.67 |
11.64 |
33.59% |
|
FL |
15.26 |
11.37 |
12.02 |
26.96% |
|
IL |
14.98 |
12.56 |
12.95 |
15.68% |
|
TX |
14.58 |
11.36 |
11.15 |
30.76% |
|
IN |
14.58 |
12.02 |
12.05 |
21.00% |
|
AZ |
14.41 |
13.16 |
12.65 |
13.91% |
|
CO |
14.15 |
12.28 |
12.75 |
10.98% |
|
AL |
14.13 |
12.41 |
12.79 |
10.48% |
|
MN |
13.94 |
14.09 |
13.96 |
-0.14% |
|
NM |
13.65 |
13.37 |
13.41 |
1.79% |
|
VA |
13.61 |
12.40 |
11.91 |
14.27% |
|
SC |
13.61 |
12.91 |
13.07 |
4.13% |
|
WV |
13.37 |
11.57 |
11.69 |
14.37% |
|
MS |
13.25 |
11.55 |
11.40 |
16.23% |
|
NC |
13.22 |
11.24 |
11.07 |
19.42% |
|
KS |
12.96 |
11.56 |
13.56 |
-4.42% |
|
GA |
12.79 |
12.26 |
12.53 |
2.08% |
|
MT |
12.61 |
11.85 |
11.73 |
7.50% |
|
OR |
12.56 |
11.02 |
10.97 |
14.49% |
|
KY |
12.21 |
10.56 |
10.68 |
14.33% |
|
TN |
12.18 |
10.79 |
10.93 |
11.44% |
|
IA |
11.88 |
13.81 |
13.92 |
-14.66% |
|
SD |
11.69 |
12.39 |
12.57 |
-7.00% |
|
AR |
11.61 |
9.99 |
10.73 |
8.20% |
|
AK |
11.61 |
22.54 |
22.14 |
-47.56% |
|
ID |
11.60 |
10.58 |
11.42 |
1.58% |
|
LA |
11.40 |
9.37 |
10.19 |
11.87% |
|
WY |
11.21 |
12.30 |
12.21 |
-8.19% |
|
MO |
11.20 |
13.23 |
13.25 |
-15.47% |
|
WA |
11.00 |
9.79 |
9.95 |
10.55% |
|
OK |
10.99 |
10.72 |
10.53 |
4.37% |
|
UT |
10.86 |
10.63 |
11.48 |
-5.40% |
|
NE |
10.58 |
11.31 |
12.06 |
-12.27% |
|
ND |
10.23 |
12.07 |
12.34 |
-17.10% |
