Verified August 2026
What businesses pay for electricity, by state
Commercial electricity runs from 8.02¢ per kWh in North Dakota to 48.05¢ in Hawaii — a spread of roughly 6 to one. Of the 51 jurisdictions, 19 let businesses choose their supplier.
Click a state to work out what a business there pays.
How rates moved over five years
Ohio commercial rates rose 42.4% between July 2021 and June 2026 — from 9.67¢ to 13.77¢ per kWh. The US average rose 23.8% over the same period, so a business in Ohio absorbed close to twice the national increase.
The steepest part is recent. PJM's capacity auction — the mechanism that pays generators to be available — cleared at record prices as data centre load grew, and that cost reached Ohio bills in June 2026. It is the same increase the utility pages document tariff by tariff, and it lands whether a business changed its own usage or not.
Texas, at 8.7%, shows what a market with ample generation looks like over the same five years. California rose 30.6%, from a much higher base.
Every state, ranked
Cheapest first. Retail choice marks the states where a business can buy supply from someone other than the utility — the precondition for shopping a rate at all.
| Rank | State | Rate | Retail choice |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | North Dakota | 8.02¢ | — |
| 2 | Texas | 8.66¢ | Yes |
| 3 | Nebraska | 8.82¢ | — |
| 4 | Nevada | 9.83¢ | Yes |
| 5 | Oklahoma | 9.9¢ | — |
| 6 | Idaho | 9.92¢ | — |
| 7 | Wyoming | 10.01¢ | — |
| 8 | North Carolina | 10.51¢ | — |
| 9 | Oregon | 10.59¢ | Yes |
| 10 | New Mexico | 10.82¢ | — |
| 11 | Utah | 10.99¢ | — |
| 12 | Virginia | 10.99¢ | Yes |
| 13 | West Virginia | 11.09¢ | — |
| 14 | South Dakota | 11.35¢ | — |
| 15 | Florida | 11.47¢ | — |
| 16 | Arkansas | 11.54¢ | — |
| 17 | South Carolina | 11.62¢ | — |
| 18 | Louisiana | 11.64¢ | — |
| 19 | Washington | 11.77¢ | — |
| 20 | Georgia | 11.91¢ | — |
| 21 | Kansas | 12.27¢ | — |
| 22 | Kentucky | 12.4¢ | — |
| 23 | Arizona | 12.47¢ | — |
| 24 | Missouri | 12.71¢ | — |
| 25 | Iowa | 12.79¢ | — |
| 26 | Pennsylvania | 13.33¢ | Yes |
| 27 | Montana | 13.48¢ | — |
| 28 | Minnesota | 13.68¢ | — |
| 29 | Ohiowe analyse bills here | 13.77¢ | Yes |
| 30 | Mississippi | 13.83¢ | — |
| 31 | Tennessee | 13.94¢ | — |
| 32 | Wisconsin | 14.05¢ | — |
| 33 | Indiana | 14.15¢ | — |
| 34 | Colorado | 14.19¢ | — |
| 35 | Delaware | 14.4¢ | Yes |
| 36 | Illinois | 14.53¢ | Yes |
| 37 | Alabama | 14.67¢ | — |
| 38 | Michigan | 16.63¢ | Yes |
| 39 | Maryland | 16.84¢ | Yes |
| 40 | New Jersey | 18.47¢ | Yes |
| 41 | Connecticut | 19.62¢ | Yes |
| 42 | New Hampshire | 21.22¢ | Yes |
| 43 | Vermont | 21.22¢ | — |
| 44 | Maine | 22.24¢ | Yes |
| 45 | Rhode Island | 22.7¢ | Yes |
| 46 | District of Columbia | 23.38¢ | Yes |
| 47 | Alaska | 23.42¢ | — |
| 48 | New York | 23.56¢ | Yes |
| 49 | Massachusetts | 24.52¢ | Yes |
| 50 | California | 27.33¢ | Yes |
| 51 | Hawaii | 48.05¢ | — |
How to read this
These are state averages across every commercial customer, from a corner shop to a steel mill. They answer what electricity costs in a state, not what any particular business pays — a small retailer and a data centre in the same state sit on entirely different tariffs.
The shading uses quantile breaks rather than an even scale. Hawaii at 48.05¢ is far enough above the pack that an even scale would flatten forty states into one tone, so each fifth of the ranking gets its own step instead.
Why retail choice matters
A bill has two halves. Delivery — the poles, wires and meter — is regulated and set by the utility everywhere. Supply, the electricity itself, is open to competition in 19 jurisdictions and nowhere else. In those states a business paying the default rate is usually paying more than it has to; in the rest, the utility rate is simply the rate.
We analyse bills in Ohio today, where we hold every utility's filed tariff and can name the gap in dollars. See what each Ohio utility charges, or work out your own cost in any state.
Source: EIA Electric Power Monthly, June 2026 average commercial price. Figures cover the commercial sector and are refreshed monthly.
Common questions
Which state has the cheapest commercial electricity?
North Dakota, at 8.02¢ per kWh. Hawaii is the most expensive at 48.05¢ — roughly 6 times higher.
What is the average commercial electricity rate in the US?
Around 13.5¢ per kWh, though the state you operate in matters far more than the national figure. Rates within the same region can differ by several cents.
What does retail choice mean?
It means a business can buy its electricity supply from a company other than the utility that owns the wires. 19 of the 51 jurisdictions offer it to commercial customers. Everywhere else, the utility is the only option.
Why are these rates different from the one on my bill?
These are state averages across every commercial customer, from corner shops to factories. Your own rate depends on your utility, your rate schedule, and whether you have a competitive supplier — which is why the number on your bill is the one that matters.
How much have Ohio electricity rates gone up?
Ohio commercial rates rose 42.4% between July 2021 and June 2026, from 9.67¢ to 13.77¢ per kWh. The US average rose 23.8% over the same period.
How often are these figures updated?
Monthly, from EIA Electric Power Monthly, June 2026 average commercial price. The verification date at the top of this page is when the current figures were pulled.