Cost of Electricity by State 2022 vs 2021 (2024)

Comparing US Electricity Prices by State: 2022 vs 2021

The US Energy Information is constantly gathering the latest energy data, and this includes the cost of electricity per kWh by state. It’s important to note that analyzing all this information takes time, and the latest data published is normally from a few months ago. As of June 2022, the latest kWh prices published by the US EIA are from March 2022, and they are also compared with those from 12 months earlier (March 2021).

The impact of inflation is evident across all states and business sectors, and this includes the electric power industry.

• Between March 2021 and 2022, the average electricity price for US homeowners increased from 13.30 to 14.47 cents/kWh.
• This represents an 8.8% increase in electricity prices, slightly higher than the general inflation rate reported for the same 12-month period: an 8.5% increase in the US Consumer Price Index.

Electricity prices vary by state, and they depend on a combination of many factors. For example, Texas has below-average kWh prices thanks to the abundance of local resources, while states that depend on electricity and gas imports tend to have higher kWh prices.

Residential Electricity Prices in Each US State (2022)

The following table provides the latest state electricity prices per kWh reported by the EIA, from lowest to highest, comparing them with 12 months earlier. Electricity prices are up across the board, but the increase is more drastic in some states.

As you can see in the table above, there are currently eight states with an average electricity price above 20 cents/kWh, and Hawaii is nearly at 40 cents/kWh. Texas is currently at 12.80 cents/kWh, which is 11.5% below the US average.

The following five states experienced the most drastic increase in their electricity prices between March 2021 and March 2022:

• Maine (+40.26%)
• Oklahoma (+25.96%)
• Hawaii (+21.27%)
• New Hampshire (+19.45%)
• California (+17.61%)

There were only four states where the average electricity price decreased in the same 12-month period:

• Montana (-1.56%)
• North Dakota (-1.47%)
• Wyoming (-0.93%)
• Oregon (-0.81%)

Highest and Lowest Residential Rates per kWh

Currently, electricity prices vary dramatically depending on the state. For example, home electricity prices in California are 166% higher than in North Dakota. Electricity costs depend on a combination of several factors: state regulations, climate, geography, consumption habits, deregulation, local energy resources and the power generation mix all come into play.

In the following table, you can compare the five states with the highest and lowest electricity prices (based on the US EIA data available in June 2022):

Commercial Electricity Costs per kWh in Each US State (2022)

In general, commercial energy consumers have access to lower kilowatt-hour prices compared with homeowners. In this case there are also important differences between states, as you can see in the table below:

As you can see, commercial electricity rates are lower than residential prices across the US. The only exception is Washington DC, where the average commercial rate (14.95 cents/kWh) is higher than the residential rate (14.04 cents/kWh) by 6.5%. There are 18 states with average commercial rates below 10 cents/kWh, and all states with the exception of Hawaii have average rates below 20 cents/kWh.

Between March 2021 and March 2022, commercial kWh prices increased the most in the following five states:

• Oklahoma (+37.93%)
• Maine (+32.78%)
• Hawaii (+20.61%)
• Nevada (+19.55%)
• Florida (+17.33%)
• Washington DC also experienced a significant increase (+22.64%)

There were six states where commercial kWh prices decreased during the same 12 months:

• Texas (-21.13%)
• Montana (-3.87%)
• North Dakota (-2.61%)
• Wyoming (-1.06%)
• Nebraska (-0.35%)
• Michigan (-0.08%)

California and Idaho have the highest and lowest commercial kWh prices among the 48 contiguous states, with a 144.3% difference. The following table compares the five states with highest and lowest commercial rates overall:

Electric Rates Can Differ Between Cities Within One State

Keep in mind these are average kWh prices, which means you can find electricity plans with higher or lower rates. Also consider that electricity prices not only vary across states, but also within the same state because of transmission and delivery costs. For example, if you compare electricity plans from the same providers in Dallas-Fort Worth (Oncor service territory) and Houston (CenterPoint service territory), you will notice slight differences.