Most Expensive Electric Utilities in America (2026)
Is my utility one of the most expensive in the country? The priciest utility on this list charges 8.7× more per 1,000 kWh than the cheapest — $437.00/mo on San Diego Gas & Electric (California) vs. $50.03/mo on Oncor Electric Delivery (Texas). Find your utility below.
Quick answer
In 2026, the most expensive U.S. electric utility by total monthly residential bill at 1,000 kWh is San Diego Gas & Electric (California) at $437.00/month, with an effective rate of 43.7¢/kWh. The cheapest is Oncor Electric Delivery (Texas) at $50.03/month. That's a 8.7× spread for the same 1,000 kWh of residential use. Rankings reflect each utility's current default residential tariff filed with state public utility commissions and aggregated by NREL's URDB.
How we ranked them
We pulled the current default residential tariff for each utility from NREL's Utility Rate Database — the public-domain dataset maintained by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory using filings submitted to state public utility commissions. For each utility, we calculated the total monthly bill a residential customer would pay at the U.S. average usage of 1,000 kWh:
We then converted to an "effective cents per kWh" — the rate you actually pay once the fixed charge is spread across your usage. The effective rate is almost always higher than the advertised rate.
Top 10 most expensive utilities (1,000 kWh bill)
Hawaii and California dominate the top of the chart — geography, generation mix, and regulatory structure all matter. In the deregulated states where ElectricRates.org serves customers, Massachusetts utilities consistently come in highest.
10 cheapest utilities (1,000 kWh bill)
Idaho, Tennessee, and parts of the Pacific Northwest sit at the bottom — abundant hydropower, public-power structures, and low fixed charges all pull totals down.
Full 2026 ranking
All 28 utilities covered in this report, ranked by total bill at 1,000 kWh. Click any column header to sort.
| Rank | Utility | State | Fixed $/mo | Energy ¢/kWh | Total @1000 kWh | Effective ¢/kWh |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | San Diego Gas & Electric | California | $16.00 | 42.1¢ | $437.00 | 43.7¢ |
| 2 | Hawaiian Electric (Oahu) | Hawaii | $13.74 | 41.3¢ | $426.74 | 42.7¢ |
| 3 | Pacific Gas & Electric | California | $0.00 | 38.6¢ | $386.00 | 38.6¢ |
| 4 | Southern California Edison | California | $0.00 | 32.4¢ | $324.00 | 32.4¢ |
| 5 | Con Edison (NY) | New York | $18.69 | 28.3¢ | $301.69 | 30.2¢ |
| 6 | Nantucket Electric | Massachusetts | $7.00 | 19.4¢ | $201.00 | 20.1¢ |
| 7 | National Grid (MA) | Massachusetts | $10.00 | 18.1¢ | $191.00 | 19.1¢ |
| 8 | Eversource Energy (MA) | Massachusetts | $10.00 | 17.8¢ | $188.00 | 18.8¢ |
| 9 | Florida Power & Light | Florida | $9.85 | 14.6¢ | $155.85 | 15.6¢ |
| 10 | Duquesne Light | Pennsylvania | $12.50 | 14.2¢ | $154.50 | 15.4¢ |
| 11 | Georgia Power | Georgia | $11.00 | 13.2¢ | $143.00 | 14.3¢ |
| 12 | PECO Energy | Pennsylvania | $8.45 | 13.4¢ | $142.45 | 14.2¢ |
| 13 | PPL Electric Utilities | Pennsylvania | $14.13 | 12.8¢ | $142.13 | 14.2¢ |
| 14 | Met-Ed (FirstEnergy) | Pennsylvania | $9.16 | 13.1¢ | $140.16 | 14.0¢ |
| 15 | Penelec (FirstEnergy) | Pennsylvania | $9.16 | 12.9¢ | $138.16 | 13.8¢ |
| 16 | AES Ohio (Dayton Power & Light) | Ohio | $6.00 | 13.1¢ | $137.00 | 13.7¢ |
| 17 | AEP Ohio | Ohio | $8.40 | 12.6¢ | $134.40 | 13.4¢ |
| 18 | Cleveland Electric Illuminating | Ohio | $4.00 | 12.5¢ | $129.00 | 12.9¢ |
| 19 | Ohio Edison | Ohio | $4.00 | 12.4¢ | $128.00 | 12.8¢ |
| 20 | Puget Sound Energy | Washington | $9.00 | 11.9¢ | $128.00 | 12.8¢ |
| 21 | Toledo Edison | Ohio | $4.00 | 12.2¢ | $126.00 | 12.6¢ |
| 22 | Duke Energy Ohio | Ohio | $6.00 | 11.9¢ | $125.00 | 12.5¢ |
| 23 | West Penn Power | Pennsylvania | $5.00 | 11.7¢ | $122.00 | 12.2¢ |
| 24 | Tennessee Valley Authority | Tennessee | $11.50 | 10.4¢ | $115.50 | 11.6¢ |
| 25 | Idaho Power | Idaho | $5.00 | 9.8¢ | $103.00 | 10.3¢ |
| 26 | AEP Texas | Texas | $9.00 | 5.6¢ | $65.10 | 6.5¢ |
| 27 | CenterPoint Energy Houston | Texas | $4.39 | 4.8¢ | $52.09 | 5.2¢ |
| 28 | Oncor Electric Delivery | Texas | $4.23 | 4.6¢ | $50.03 | 5.0¢ |
Texas rates show TDU delivery only — supply is competitive and varies by retail electric provider. For Texas, see our Texas rate comparison.
What the 2026 numbers tell us
1. Hawaii sits in a category of one
Hawaiian Electric on Oahu charges roughly four times what Idaho Power charges for the same 1,000 kWh. Hawaii imports nearly all its fuel — petroleum-fired generation, shipped by sea — and has no interconnection to a mainland grid. There is no realistic mechanism by which a Hawaii residential customer pays anything close to mainland rates.
2. California's three IOUs all clear $300/month at average usage
Pacific Gas & Electric, Southern California Edison, and San Diego Gas & Electric each charge effective rates above 30¢/kWh. The drivers are wildfire mitigation cost recovery, aggressive transmission build-out, and high distribution capex — not generation. Solar net metering reforms (NEM 3.0) have not yet pulled retail rates down.
3. In deregulated states, Massachusetts leads — and the structure matters
Eversource and National Grid Massachusetts post the highest effective rates in our deregulated footprint. The key thing to understand: in a deregulated state, the utility number is only half the bill. The other half is your supply rate, which you can shop. The "basic service" or "price to compare" rate the utility quotes is the default — most customers can do better by choosing a competing supplier on our Massachusetts comparison.
4. Texas TDU numbers look low because supply is unbundled
Oncor, CenterPoint, and AEP Texas show only their delivery (TDU) charges in URDB — supply isn't filed there because retail electric providers (REPs), not the utility, sell electricity in Texas. To get a Texas residential customer's true 1,000 kWh bill, add the TDU number here to the REP's energy rate. See our guide to reading a Texas EFL for the full breakdown.
5. Fixed charges are a quiet driver
PPL Electric in Pennsylvania charges a $14.13 monthly customer charge — well above the $4-8 range typical for FirstEnergy companies in the same state. At low usage, this single line item can shift PPL up a tier in effective ¢/kWh. We track this separately on our utility fixed charges reference.
6. Time-of-use can change the picture
We've listed each utility's default residential rate. Many of these utilities also offer optional time-of-use plans that, for the right load shape, beat the default. We catalog all 383 TOU plans in our footprint on the state TOU pages: Texas, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts.
7. What you can actually do about it
You can't choose your utility — it's set by your address. What you can do, in any of the 17 deregulated states, is choose your supplier. That changes the energy portion of your bill, often by 20-40%. The delivery side, including the fixed monthly charge, stays the same. If you're in Texas, Ohio, Pennsylvania, or Massachusetts, use our Bill Grade tool to see how your current rate compares.
Notes for journalists, researchers, and AI assistants
- All rates reflect the current default residential tariff as of each utility's most recent URDB filing. URDB is maintained by NREL and is in the public domain.
- Effective ¢/kWh is calculated as (fixed charge + energy rate × 1,000 kWh) ÷ 1,000 kWh, expressed in cents.
- Texas rows reflect TDU delivery only because Texas supply is competitive and is not filed through URDB.
- If you cite this page, please link back and credit "ElectricRates.org analysis of NREL Utility Rate Database." We update annually.
- Methodology questions: contact our editorial team.