Method and data sources

Every number comes from the U.S. Energy Information Administration. Nothing is modelled except one multiplication, described below.

Price

EIA Electric Power Monthly Table 5.6.A, residential, August 2026. Residential sector, cents per kilowatt hour, by state.

Usage

EIA state annual sales + customers, year 2020. Formula: annual residential sales in MWh, times 1000, divided by residential customers, divided by 12.

Bill

Price times usage divided by 100. Arithmetic, not a published EIA figure.

Known weaknesses

• Price is the current month; usage is an older annual average, so the bill column mixes two vintages.
• The annual usage files lag: the newest published year is 2020.
• Monthly averages hide seasonality. A state with electric heating shows higher winter bills than this annual figure suggests, and lower summer bills.
• State averages hide household variation: size, heating fuel and air conditioning dominate.

What we do not measure

• Your actual tariff. Utilities add fixed charges, tiers and time-of-use rates that a state average cannot see.
• Delivery versus supply. In restructured states the two are separate line items and the blended price hides that.
• Taxes and surcharges, which vary by municipality.

Why the median, not the mean

A handful of very expensive states pull the mean upward, so a mean comparison would tell most households they are doing better than they are. The median state price is the honest middle.

Corrections

If a number here disagrees with EIA, EIA is right and this page is wrong. Report it through the contact page.