Most expensive electricity rates by state
Hawaii charges 52.00 cents per kilowatt-hour, roughly 4.2× what Idaho charges for the same electricity. A household using 1,000 kWh a month pays about $336 more there than at the U.S. average of 18.44¢.
The ten most expensive, ranked
| # | State | May 2026 (¢/kWh) | May 2025 | Change | vs. U.S. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Hawaii | 52.00 | 41.03 | +26.7% | +182.0% |
| 2 | California | 33.25 | 33.29 | -0.1% | +80.3% |
| 3 | New York | 29.93 | 26.69 | +12.1% | +62.3% |
| 4 | Rhode Island | 29.46 | 29.00 | +1.6% | +59.8% |
| 5 | Massachusetts | 28.82 | 29.90 | -3.6% | +56.3% |
| 6 | Maine | 28.63 | 27.91 | +2.6% | +55.3% |
| 7 | Alaska | 28.23 | 26.08 | +8.2% | +53.1% |
| 8 | Connecticut | 27.37 | 31.59 | -13.4% | +48.4% |
| 9 | New Hampshire | 27.33 | 24.02 | +13.8% | +48.2% |
| 10 | District of Columbia | 25.40 | 20.43 | +24.3% | +37.7% |
Change measured against May 2025. Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration, Electric Power Monthly, Table 5.6.A: Average Price of Electricity to Ultimate Customers by End-Use Sector, by State.
Four different reasons to be expensive
The top of this table looks like one category and is really four. Grouping them explains more than the ranking does.
Islands and isolation
Hawaii and Alaska are not connected to anything. Hawaii burns imported oil on island grids that each hold their own reserves; rural Alaska runs diesel generators on fuel that arrives by barge or aeroplane. There is no regional market to lean on and no interconnection to import cheaper power. These are the only two states whose rates are set primarily by fuel logistics.
Wildfire and the cost of not burning down
California is the clearest case. After utility equipment was found responsible for catastrophic fires, its utilities began burying thousands of miles of distribution line, replacing conductors, installing weather stations and fast-trip protection, and expanding vegetation management enormously. They also pay wildfire insurance and contribute to a state fund. All of it recovers through rates, and none of it produces a single additional kilowatt-hour. Oregon is now on the same path at smaller scale.
Winter gas constraints
New England, meaning Connecticut, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont, sits at the end of a constrained pipeline network. When cold weather arrives, gas contracted for heating takes priority, generators switch to oil or imported LNG, and the regional clearing price rises for everyone. Add high delivery costs from old, dense, storm-exposed networks and a heavy set of policy programmes funded through the bill, and the region occupies most of the top ten.
Capacity markets and load growth
The newest entrant is the PJM capacity market. PJM pays generators to be available, and its auction for the 2025/2026 delivery year cleared at a record after data-centre demand grew, older plants retired, and new generation failed to interconnect fast enough. That single mechanism explains most of the year-over-year jump in Illinois, the District of Columbia, Maryland, Ohio, New Jersey and Pennsylvania, states with very little else in common.
Notice what is missing from all four: the cost of actually generating electricity. Fuel and generation are a minority of the difference between the top and the bottom of this table. Geography, weather risk, network age and market structure account for the rest.
Where every state sits
Frequently asked questions
Which state has the most expensive electricity?
Hawaii, at 52.00 cents per kilowatt-hour as of May 2026, about 4.2 times the rate in Idaho, the cheapest state. California (33.25¢) and New York (29.93¢) follow.
Why is electricity so expensive in Hawaii?
Hawaii is the only state that generates a large share of its electricity from imported petroleum. Each island runs an isolated grid with no interconnection to anywhere else, so there is no neighbouring system to import cheaper power from and no shared reserve margin. Every island must hold its own backup capacity. Because oil sets the marginal price, Hawaii's rate tracks world oil markets more closely than any other state's.
Why is California electricity so expensive if it has so much solar?
Because generation is not the expensive part. Wholesale energy in California is not unusually costly, since the state has enormous solar output, hydro, geothermal and nuclear. The cost sits in wildfire mitigation, which has driven the largest grid-hardening programme in American history, plus transmission to reach remote renewables, legacy contracts, and public purpose programmes funded through the bill.
What is driving increases in the Northeast and mid-Atlantic?
Two different mechanisms. In New England the binding constraint is natural gas pipeline capacity in winter: when a cold snap arrives, gas is committed to heating customers, generators switch to oil or imported LNG, and the regional clearing price rises. In the PJM states, meaning New Jersey, Maryland, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Illinois and the District of Columbia, the driver is the capacity market, which cleared at record prices for the 2025/2026 delivery year as data-centre load grew and older plants retired faster than new ones connected.
Can I do anything about a high state rate?
Some. Read your bill to see how much of it is supply versus delivery. In high-delivery states such as Massachusetts and California, switching supplier cannot move the total much, and load shifting onto a time-of-use schedule usually can. In retail-choice states such as Texas, Pennsylvania and Ohio, comparing fixed-rate offers against the default price is a genuine lever. And in every state, the usage side is available: envelope efficiency, heat pump conversion from electric resistance, and moving discretionary load off the peak.