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The Top 7 Most Expensive States for Electricity

Dec. 12, 2023
From January 2022 to January 2023, there was a 12.75% jump in electricity costs per kWh — a growth of double the rate of inflation.

Retail electricity prices vary quite a bit from state to state and region to region. A lot of factors play into this, such as climate, the available power generation nearby, the ability of the power grid to dispatch that power, how interconnected the grid is with other resources, and many more variables.

The time of day and the time of year also matters when looking at electricity demands and costs — with costs usually peaking in the summer as more expensive generation sources come online to help keep air conditioning running, among other things.

Electric utilities often try to recoup the costs of grid improvements through raising rates, as the need for grid upgrades, needed maintenance, storm hardening, cybersecurity and critical infrastructure improvements grow. Some states have fully regulated electricity costs, and some others have a hybrid system where some segments of power production are regulated and/or publicly owned and others are unregulated.

Using 2022’s data as a yardstick, the annual average electricity cost per kilowatt varied from nearly 40 cents in Hawaii to about 8.2 cents in Wyoming, according to data collected by the Department of Energy’s Energy Information Administration.

From January 2022 to January 2023, there was a 12.75% jump in electricity costs per kWh — a growth of double the rate of inflation.

What follows is a look at the states where electricity cost the most, from January 2022 to January 2023, using data from the EIA.

About the Author

Jeff Postelwait | Managing Editor

Jeff Postelwait is a writer and editor with a background in newspapers and online editing who has been writing about the electric utility industry since 2008. Jeff is senior editor for T&D World magazine and sits on the advisory board of the T&D World Conference and Exhibition. Utility Products, Power Engineering, Powergrid International and Electric Light & Power are some of the other publications in which Jeff's work has been featured. Jeff received his degree in journalism news editing from Oklahoma State University and currently operates out of Oregon.

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