Key findings
- 29/51
- Jurisdictions where power got CHEAPER in real terms
- +45.6%
- District of Columbia had the steepest real rise
- 27
- States where a nominal rise is really a fall
Inflation over the decade was 38.6%. Anything that rose by less than that has fallen in real terms.
A nominal rise of 101.7% — the price more than doubled.
The published price went up, and in real terms it went down. The nominal figure has the sign wrong.
At a glance
Top 12 of 51
The twelve steepest real-terms rises, against the nominal change everybody quotes. The gap between the two bars is inflation.
How they spread out
Each bar counts how many of the 51 jurisdictions fall in that band. The nominal distribution sits almost entirely above zero; the real one straddles it. Same data, 38.6 points of inflation apart.
What the figures show
Almost everywhere looks dearer. Most places are not (link to this section)
Read the published prices and commercial electricity rose in nearly every state over the decade. Deflate them by the 38.6% the dollar lost over the same two months ten years apart, and it fell in 29 of 51.
27 states carry a nominal rise that is really a fall. The sign on the published number is wrong for them, which is a strong argument for never quoting the nominal figure on its own.
Electricity got cheaper in real terms in 29 of 51 jurisdictions. Nobody says so, because nobody deflates the number.
The exceptions are steep (link to this section)
District of Columbia is the outlier: 11.59 cents to 23.38, a nominal rise of 101.7% and 45.6% after inflation. A price that more than doubles in a decade is a different planning problem from one that drifts.
At the other end North Dakota fell 37.6% in real terms, from 9.27 cents to 8.02. Both of those are commercial tariffs in the same country under the same federal policy.
Why the same month, ten years apart (link to this section)
Electricity prices are seasonal. Comparing a June with a January would read the summer air-conditioning peak as a decade-long trend, which is the kind of mistake that survives into a board paper because nobody checks the months.
Both ends of this comparison are the same calendar month, and the deflator is the same index for the same two months, so no part of the movement here is seasonal.
What this is useful for, and what it is not (link to this section)
This is the price of energy, not a bill. It says nothing about how much a building uses, about standing charges, or about contracts negotiated away from the published average.
Real terms means relative to the general price level, which is not the same as relative to a business. If your own costs have risen faster than inflation, energy has got cheaper against the economy and dearer against you.
A price that rose 3% while everything else rose 39% has not risen. It has fallen, and the published number says otherwise.
How we worked this out
Commercial-sector retail electricity prices come from the US Energy Information Administration for June 2016 and June 2026 - the same calendar month ten years apart, so no seasonal difference is being read as a trend.
The deflator is the US Bureau of Labor Statistics "All items" index for those same two months, which rose 38.6% over the period.
The real change is the nominal change divided through by that inflation: a state showing zero has an electricity price that has exactly kept pace with the cost of everything else.
On that basis, commercial electricity became cheaper in real terms in 29 of the 51 jurisdictions, and more expensive in 22.
National and census-division aggregates published alongside the states are excluded. Only the 50 states and the District of Columbia are shown.
This is the price of energy, not a bill. It takes no account of how much a building uses, of standing charges, or of contracts negotiated away from the published average.
The numbers
51 rows · as at 2026-06
51 rows
| Region | % real change over 10 years | Nominal change (%) | Real, per year (%) | June 2016 (c/kWh) | June 2026 (c/kWh) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| District of Columbia | +45.6% | +101.7% | +3.8% | 11.59 | 23.38 |
| Hawaii | +40.5% | +94.6% | +3.5% | 24.69 | 48.05 |
| Maine | +38.8% | +92.4% | +3.3% | 11.56 | 22.24 |
| California | +23.6% | +71.2% | +2.1% | 15.96 | 27.33 |
| Illinois | +16.6% | +61.6% | +1.6% | 8.99 | 14.53 |
| Massachusetts | +13.7% | +57.6% | +1.3% | 15.56 | 24.52 |
| Michigan | +12.8% | +56.3% | +1.2% | 10.64 | 16.63 |
| New York | +12.6% | +56.0% | +1.2% | 15.10 | 23.56 |
| Rhode Island | +12.5% | +55.9% | +1.2% | 14.56 | 22.70 |
| Maryland | +10.0% | +52.4% | +1.0% | 11.05 | 16.84 |
| New Hampshire | +9.2% | +51.2% | +0.9% | 14.03 | 21.22 |
| Pennsylvania | +5.8% | +46.6% | +0.6% | 9.09 | 13.33 |
| Mississippi | +5.1% | +45.6% | +0.5% | 9.50 | 13.83 |
| Vermont | +4.7% | +45.0% | +0.5% | 14.63 | 21.22 |
| Delaware | +4.4% | +44.7% | +0.4% | 9.95 | 14.40 |
| Indiana | +3.8% | +43.8% | +0.4% | 9.84 | 14.15 |
| Louisiana | +2.2% | +41.6% | +0.2% | 8.22 | 11.64 |
| Washington | +1.6% | +40.8% | +0.2% | 8.36 | 11.77 |
| New Jersey | +0.8% | +39.6% | +0.1% | 13.23 | 18.47 |
| Colorado | +0.7% | +39.5% | +0.1% | 10.17 | 14.19 |
| Minnesota | +0.1% | +38.7% | +0.0% | 9.86 | 13.68 |
| Ohio | +0.1% | +38.7% | +0.0% | 9.93 | 13.77 |
| Tennessee | −2.0% | +35.7% | −0.2% | 10.27 | 13.94 |
| Arkansas | −2.8% | +34.7% | −0.3% | 8.57 | 11.54 |
| Virginia | −3.7% | +33.4% | −0.4% | 8.24 | 10.99 |
| Florida | −5.1% | +31.5% | −0.5% | 8.72 | 11.47 |
| Alabama | −5.2% | +31.3% | −0.5% | 11.17 | 14.67 |
| Alaska | −5.7% | +30.6% | −0.6% | 17.93 | 23.42 |
| Montana | −7.4% | +28.3% | −0.8% | 10.51 | 13.48 |
| Kentucky | −7.5% | +28.1% | −0.8% | 9.68 | 12.40 |
| Nevada | −9.6% | +25.2% | −1.0% | 7.85 | 9.83 |
| Wisconsin | −10.3% | +24.3% | −1.1% | 11.30 | 14.05 |
| Oklahoma | −10.5% | +24.1% | −1.1% | 7.98 | 9.90 |
| Connecticut | −11.6% | +22.5% | −1.2% | 16.02 | 19.62 |
| North Carolina | −11.8% | +22.2% | −1.3% | 8.60 | 10.51 |
| Iowa | −11.9% | +22.0% | −1.3% | 10.48 | 12.79 |
| West Virginia | −13.0% | +20.5% | −1.4% | 9.20 | 11.09 |
| Idaho | −13.3% | +20.1% | −1.4% | 8.26 | 9.92 |
| Oregon | −13.4% | +19.9% | −1.4% | 8.83 | 10.59 |
| Georgia | −14.7% | +18.2% | −1.6% | 10.08 | 11.91 |
| Missouri | −15.6% | +16.9% | −1.7% | 10.87 | 12.71 |
| South Dakota | −15.7% | +16.8% | −1.7% | 9.72 | 11.35 |
| Kansas | −18.1% | +13.5% | −2.0% | 10.81 | 12.27 |
| Utah | −18.1% | +13.4% | −2.0% | 9.69 | 10.99 |
| Arizona | −19.1% | +12.0% | −2.1% | 11.13 | 12.47 |
| South Carolina | −21.8% | +8.4% | −2.4% | 10.72 | 11.62 |
| New Mexico | −22.1% | +8.0% | −2.5% | 10.02 | 10.82 |
| Texas | −24.7% | +4.3% | −2.8% | 8.30 | 8.66 |
| Wyoming | −25.7% | +3.0% | −2.9% | 9.72 | 10.01 |
| Nebraska | −32.6% | −6.6% | −3.9% | 9.44 | 8.82 |
| North Dakota | −37.6% | −13.5% | −4.6% | 9.27 | 8.02 |
Colour key rises once adjusted falls once adjusteddearer than the US averagecheaper than the US averageThe arrow carries the same meaning as the colour, so neither is needed on its own.
What to take away
Quote the nominal price and you will overstate the rise everywhere and get the direction wrong in 27 states. Over a decade, 29 of 51 jurisdictions saw commercial electricity fall in real terms — the exceptions are worth knowing precisely because they are exceptions.
Where it came from
- US Energy Information Administration — Electricity retail sales
US federal government — public domain · published monthly
- US Bureau of Labor Statistics — Consumer Price Index
US federal government — public domain · published monthly
When this page changes next
The comparison rolls forward whenever EIA publishes a newer month, which is about every month, and the inflation deflator updates with it. The pipeline checks every week.
Last checked
This page is free to use and free to quote. If you cite it, please link back so readers can check the figures and the method for themselves.
Cite this page
Free to quote, with or without permission. A link back means your readers can check the figures and the method for themselves. The chart can be embedded straight into your own page, and it carries the attribution with it.
Claire Densmore, "Has commercial electricity actually got more expensive?", APXXO, 2026. https://apxxo.com/en-us/data/commercial-electricity-real-trend/
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Paying more than this?
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