Residential electricity prices increase slightly since June 2017, but changes vary by region

The average U.S. residential price of electricity per kilowatthour (kWh) for the most recent rolling 12-month periods (June 2017 to May 2018 and June 2018 to May 2019) has increased slightly (0.3%) for the nation as a whole. Although the average national price has increased slightly, most state-level rates have decreased slightly (27). This divergence is caused by states with the largest price increases outpacing those with the largest price decreases. This trend can be seen at the census division level, where the Pacific Noncontiguous and the New England divisions experienced the largest increases in average prices (cents per kWh). Pacific Noncontiguous prices increased 7.5% and New England prices increased 4.2%. The other eight divisions all saw price decreases or increases ranging from decreases of 0.8% to increases of 2.2%. Altogether, five divisions saw increases and five divisions saw decreases.

This trend is even clearer when looking at individual state totals. Five of the six largest electricity price increases came from either the Pacific Noncontiguous or the New England divisions. Specifically, the four states with the largest price increases—Rhode Island, Hawaii, Connecticut, and Massachusetts—are all members of one of those two census divisions. Rhode Island was the only state that saw a percent change greater than 10% at an increase of 10.2%. Hawaii was next largest at 9.0%, followed by Connecticut at 5.4% and Massachusetts at 4.6%. Texas rounds out the top five with a percent change of 4.1%.

When looking at percent decreases in price, there is no region with large enough price decreases to balance out the sizeable increases seen in the Pacific Noncontiguous or New England Census divisions, as well as the moderate increases in the West South Central and Pacific Contiguous divisions. In addition, in terms of individual states with large percent decreases, there are no states to counterbalance the increases in Hawaii or Rhode Island. This lack of balance is partly why the U.S. total increased only slightly during this period.

The top five states in terms of decreased price per kilowatthour saw slight changes. The decreases experienced by these states were similar to the increases experienced by Connecticut, Massachusetts, and Texas in that they were only slight. Those states are: South Carolina at -5.4%, Arkansas at -5.1%, West Virginia at -4.6%, Utah at -4.0%, and Missouri at -3.6%. These states widely differ in region, unlike the states that saw significant increases. South Carolina and West Virginia are both in the South Atlantic Division, Arkansas is in the West South Central Division, Utah is in the Mountain Division, and Missouri is in the West North Central Division.

The other 40 states and the District of Columbia all fall between an increase of 3.8% and a decrease of -3.4%. The majority of these states (28) and the District of Columbia saw an absolute (plus or minus) percent change less than 2%, and 13 of those states and the District of Columbia saw an absolute percent change of less than 1%. Overall, most of the United States saw relatively flat changes in electricity prices during the past two years. Those states that saw the highest increases outpaced those that saw the largest decreases and that led to the United States as a whole to see a slight increase in residential electricity prices.

Principal Contributors:

Connor Murphy
(Connor.Murphy@eia.gov)

Peter Wong
(Peter.Wong@eia.gov)