Average Electricity Bills in Every State [Ranks for All States + DC]

The average electricity bill in the United States is $117 per month. But what you actually pay varies greatly depending on where you live. 

Hawaii has the highest average electric bill with a grand average of $162 per month. Utah on the other hand has the lowest average electric bill with just a measly $80 per month. Sign me up for that!

Let's take a closer look at every state plus Washington D.C. 

Average Electric Bills Ranked for Every State

States with the Highest Electricity Bills

These states had the highest electric bills on average: 

States with the Lowest Electricity Bills

These states had the lowest electric bills on average: 

What Causes High Electric Bills?

There are two factors that contribute to your electric bill. The cost per kWh you pay and the amount of electricity you use. 

Cost Per kWh

This can be tricky to understand. There are several line items, fees, and charges on your bill. So what's paying for what? 

For simplicity let's break up charges into two categories. Supply charges and delivery charges. 

Supply charges are the fees associated with the actual energy you use. So if you pay 10 cents per kWh hour and use 1,000 kWh you would have $100 in supply charges. Just like on your water bill where you get charged for how much water you used. In deregulated states, you are able to shop around to find the best deal on supply charges.

Delivery charges are the fees associated with actually getting the electricity to your location. They generally include 3 things:

• Distribution Rate - The fee that covers the actual delivery of the electricity to your door via local power lines.
• Transition Rate - Usually a fixed amount that covers the financing that utilities need to invest in building power-generating facilities.
• Transmission Rate - Set by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission this surcharge pays for the delivery of electricity through high voltage lines. 

Your electric bill may have other items or fees, but at a high level these are the most common charges. If you see something you're not sure about call your provider or utility to get clarification.