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Money / Personal Finance

The Top 10 States With the Highest Electricity Bills

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A man with a concerned expression sits at a table, holding a sheet of paper with financial information, and covering his mouth with his hand. A laptop is open in front of him, and window blinds are visible in the background.
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There’s nothing in our lives that isn’t getting more and more expensive every day, but one of the most unavoidable is power. The amount of electricity we consume can make an enormous dent in our budget thanks to soaring electric bills. How much do we spend as a country? Utility Rates put together a report detailing electricity usage to find just that. Here are the 10 states with the highest electric bills, as well as each state’s average consumption (in kilowatt hours) and price for May 2025. 

Is your state stuck in the top 10? Take a look.

1. Alabama

A quiet downtown street with historic brick buildings, a yellow double line, the "Princess" theater sign on the right, and a modern office building in the background under a clear sky.
DenisTangneyJr/istockphoto

Average consumption (May 2025): 1151.48 kWh
Average price (May 2025): 16.09 cents per kWh
Spending increase over 5 years: 60.97 percent

Sixty-one percent is a devastating price increase, and Alabama is feeling it the most, paying the most of all. In 2020, Alabama’s price per kilowatt hour was only about 12 cents.

2. Maine

Several fishing boats are docked at a marina in a small coastal town, with red brick buildings, houses, and trees visible in the background under a partly cloudy sky.
wakr10/istockphoto

Average consumption (May 2025): 535.87 kWh
Average price (May 2025): 27.91 cents per kWh
Spending increase over 5 years: 21.70 percent

There’s no piece of data in this report that says why people are using so much energy, so who’s to say this isn’t just a bunch of people reading all of Stephen King’s Maine-based stories and refusing to go to sleep with the lights off?

3. North Carolina

Aerial view of downtown Charlotte, North Carolina, showing modern skyscrapers under a blue sky, with the Spectrum Center and other commercial buildings, roads, and parked cars visible below.
Kruck20/istockphoto

Average consumption (May 2025): 1023.27 kWh
Average price (May 2025): 14.26 cents per kWh
Spending increase over 5 years: 31.28 percent

North Carolina’s spending has increased by more than 30 percent over the last five years, surpassing Maine’s increase despite a lower kilowatt-hour cost. A three-cent rise over five years really adds up.

4. Delaware

A quiet intersection in a historic downtown area with colorful, ornate buildings on each corner, traffic lights, parked cars, and trees lining the street under a blue sky with wispy clouds.
Dmitry Vinogradov/istockphoto

Average consumption (May 2025): 980.57 kWh
Average price (May 2025): 18.12 cents per kWh
Spending increase over 5 years: 25.57 percent

5. Georgia

A vibrant cityscape of downtown Atlanta, Georgia, with tall skyscrapers, busy highways, green trees, and a bright blue sky dotted with fluffy white clouds.
Sean Davis/istockphoto

Average consumption (May 2025): 996.71 kWh
Average price (May 2025): 15.00 cents per kWh
Spending increase over 5 years: 1.36 percent

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6. Kentucky

Louisville city skyline at sunset, with tall buildings and structures reflected clearly in a calm river, under a blue and orange sky.
littleny/istockphoto

Average consumption (May 2025): 997.51 kWh
Average price (May 2025): 14.08 cents per kWh
Spending increase over 5 years: 34.08 percent

7. Massachusetts

Boston harbor at sunset with modern and historic buildings, a docked sailboat, and yachts reflected in the calm water under a colorful sky.
DenisTangneyJr/istockphoto

Average consumption (May 2025): 489.46 kWh
Average price (May 2025): 28.72 cents per kWh
Spending increase over 5 years: 30.45 percent

8. New Mexico

Santa Fe, New Mexico skyline at sunset with adobe-style buildings, lush green trees, and a prominent building flying a flag, set against distant hills and a vibrant yellow-orange sky.
Sean Pavone/istockphoto

Average consumption (May 2025): 1090.42 kWh
Average price (May 2025): 14.59 cents per kWh
Spending increase over 5 years: 38.76 percent

9. West Virginia

Aerial view of the West Virginia State Capitol building with a gold dome, surrounded by trees with autumn foliage, near a river and cityscape under a clear blue sky.
Wirestock/istockphoto

Average consumption (May 2025): 933.90 kWh
Average price (May 2025): 16.18 cents per kWh
Spending increase over 5 years: 22.53 percent

10. Virginia

A vibrant city skyline at dusk with illuminated buildings, a bridge spanning a wide river, and lush greenery and rapids in the foreground under a deep blue sky.
Dee Liu/istockphoto

Average consumption (May 2025): 908.64 kWh
Average price (May 2025): 15.41 cents per kWh
Spending increase over 5 years: 18.22 percent

Despite remaining under 1,000 kWh, Virginia has still seen spending increase by almost 20 percent. A common theme here seems to lie in the eastern half of the United States, where all 10 states but New Mexico are.

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Wilder Shaw

Wilder Shaw is a staff writer at Cheapism who has written for publications like The Washington Post, Thrillist, Time Out, and more, but you most likely recognize him as Trick-or-Treater No. 2 from a 1996 episode of “The Nanny”. Give him a shout on Bluesky and Instagram.