Electric Consumer

Editor: Katerine G., Editor & Data Researcher · Research & publishing: Electric Consumer Editorial Team · Data retrieved · Sources named on this page: EIA retail sales · How we got these numbers · Report an error

Cheap per kWh, big on the bill: Tennessee ranks #11 for price and #15 for bill size

3 of 17cheapest-rate states still have a bill above the median ($148)

Tennessee charges 13.18 cents per kWh, the #11 lowest. Homes there use 1,217 kWh a month, so the typical bill is $160, the #15 highest.

What we found

We ranked all 51 places by price and took the cheapest 17. Of those, 3 have a typical monthly bill above the median of $148.

Across all places the correlation between price per kWh and monthly bill is 0.54 (n = 51). A value near zero would mean price tells you little about the bill.

Map

Cheap per kWh, big on the bill: Tennessee ranks #11 for price and #15 for bill sizeNew Mexico: $99Texas: $173Kentucky: $150Ohio: $150Georgia: $161Arkansas: $138Oregon: $134Pennsylvania: $163Missouri: $143North Carolina: $146Utah: $102Virginia: $163Wyoming: $114West Virginia: $165New York: $155Indiana: $155Kansas: $128Idaho: $110Nevada: $114Illinois: $128Vermont: $136New Jersey: $150Minnesota: $117Maryland: $185Iowa: $118Hawaii: $207New Hampshire: $157Rhode Island: $166Connecticut: $207Montana: $111Arizona: $158Nebraska: $120Washington: $125South Dakota: $134California: $156Alabama: $185Wisconsin: $121Mississippi: $166Colorado: $107Oklahoma: $140Tennessee: $160Louisiana: $154Michigan: $127Massachusetts: $183Florida: $167Alaska: $147North Dakota: $127South Carolina: $161Maine: $148Delaware: $160District of Columbia: $140
  • $99 to $121
  • $121 to $140
  • $140 to $155
  • $155 to $165
  • $165 to $207

Highest and lowest

Ten highest monthly bills

typical monthly home bill, 2025, energy only

  1. 1Connecticut$207
  2. 2Hawaii$207
  3. 3Alabama$185
  4. 4Maryland$185
  5. 5Massachusetts$183
  6. 6Texas$173
  7. 7Florida$167
  8. 8Mississippi$166
  9. 9Rhode Island$166
  10. 10West Virginia$165

Ten lowest monthly bills

typical monthly home bill, 2025, energy only

  1. 42Nebraska$120
  2. 43Iowa$118
  3. 44Minnesota$117
  4. 45Nevada$114
  5. 46Wyoming$114
  6. 47Montana$111
  7. 48Idaho$110
  8. 49Colorado$107
  9. 50Utah$102
  10. 51New Mexico$99

How we computed it

  1. Take the typical monthly bill: average monthly use times average monthly price, averaged over 2025. Example, Tennessee: 1,217 kWh × 13.18 ¢ ÷ 100 = $160.45.
  2. Rank the 51 places by price, lowest first, and keep the first 17.
  3. Find the median bill across all places: $147.80.
  4. Count cheap-rate states with a bill above that median: 3.
  5. Correlation (Pearson) of price and bill over 51 places: 0.538.

Formula: bill = average monthly kWh x average price / 100; count of the cheapest third of states with bill > median bill

All 51 places

Cheap per kWh, big on the bill: Tennessee ranks #11 for price and #15 for bill size: every place
Connecticut129.3847705207.35
Hawaii240.5951511207.32
Alabama316.10311,152185.43
Maryland419.4838948184.75
Massachusetts530.4849600182.86
Texas615.47281,118172.93
Florida715.24231,099167.50
Mississippi814.03181,183166.01
Rhode Island929.4648562165.53
West Virginia1015.41271,073165.35
Virginia1115.28241,067163.07
Pennsylvania1219.3037843162.56
South Carolina1314.96211,076160.92
Georgia1414.73201,091160.67
Tennessee1513.18111,217160.41
Delaware1617.1334932159.60
Arizona1715.32251,030157.78
New Hampshire1824.5643639156.93
California1932.5450480156.17
Indiana2016.2332957155.35
New York2126.3945586154.64
Louisiana2212.5741,227154.24
New Jersey2322.6341664150.27
Kentucky2413.24121,132149.82
Ohio2516.9633883149.81
Maine2627.7846532147.80
Alaska2726.0944564147.12
North Carolina2814.02171,044146.26
Missouri2913.49151,063143.32
Oklahoma3013.1291,071140.46
District of Columbia3121.9440639140.18
Arkansas3212.8451,074137.88
Vermont3322.9242594136.14
South Dakota3413.38131,005134.47
Oregon3515.3726873134.21
Kansas3614.5619880128.14
Illinois3717.6935722127.65
Michigan3820.0139634126.87
North Dakota3911.8111,073126.80
Washington4013.118955125.13
Wisconsin4118.1636666120.90
Nebraska4212.343971119.76
Iowa4313.7216857117.60
Minnesota4415.8229742117.46
Nevada4513.1510870114.40
Wyoming4613.3814850113.74
Montana4712.986853110.70
Idaho4811.822933110.31
Colorado4915.8530678107.40
Utah5013.077777101.51
New Mexico5115.082265498.59

51 rows. Also as a plain file: facts/data/cheap-rates-big-bills.csv.

CSV

What this does not show

The bill covers energy only, as an average over the year. Heating fuel, climate, home size and income differ between states, and this comparison does not separate them.

Sources, dates and licences

Sources
SourceData periodRetrievedLicence
EIA electricity retail sales, annual and monthly (API v2)annual 2010 to 2025, monthly to Jul 20261 Oct 2026U.S. government data, public domain; cite EIA

All source data are U.S. government publications. The tables and charts on this page are our own computations from them; how the sources are joined.

Related

Cheapest electricity by state · Citing this page · Facts feed

Previous: One year price jump · Next: Bill share of income · All facts

Questions

Why is a cheap rate not always a cheap bill?

Because the bill is rate times use. Tennessee uses 1,217 kWh a month at 13.18 cents.

How is the typical bill built?

Average monthly use times average monthly price from EIA retail sales, over twelve months. Energy only, no taxes you pay elsewhere.

Which state has the highest monthly bill?

Connecticut, $207 a month.

Which has the lowest?

New Mexico, $99 a month.

Does this mean cheap-rate states are a bad deal?

No. It means rate alone does not predict the bill. Use and climate matter as much.

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3 of 17 cheapest-rate states still have a bill above the median ($148)