Key findings
- 25/46
- States where gas is the relatively cheaper fuel
- 150 / 53
- Vermont has the widest split
- 339 / 417
- Hawaii is the reverse
Electricity sits above its national average there while gas sits below its own.
Power at 150 against the US average of 100, gas at 53.
Both fuels are expensive there, and gas is the more expensive of the two.
At a glance
Top 12 of 46
The twelve states where the two fuels diverge most. Both are indexed to their own national average, so 100 is the middle of each market.
On the map
46 of 46 shown
Power minus gas, in index points. Green is where electricity is dear relative to gas, and a heat load is worth moving.
Scale-78.1096.70Every tile carries its own figure, so the map reads without the colour.
How they spread out
Each bar counts how many of the 46 states fall in that band.
What the figures show
Two fuels, two different national averages (link to this section)
Every state pays its own price for electricity and its own price for gas, and the two are not correlated. Indexing each fuel against its own national average — 14.19 cents per kWh and $12.71 per thousand cubic feet for June 2026 — shows where they pull apart.
25 of the 46 states here pay above the national average for electricity and below it for gas. That is where moving a heat load from power to gas is worth most, and it is not the same list as "states with cheap gas".
Vermont pays 150 for power against a US average of 100, and 53 for gas. The two fuels are not in the same market.
Why this page refuses to say which fuel is cheaper (link to this section)
The obvious next step is to convert both to a common energy unit and declare a winner. This page does not, and the omission is deliberate.
Doing it honestly needs a heat-content factor for natural gas and an efficiency figure for the appliance burning it. A gas dryer, a resistive electric dryer and a heat-pump dryer differ enough to flip the answer, and picking one would bury an assumption inside a number that looks objective.
Indexing each fuel against its own national average needs neither assumption and still answers the comparative question: relative to the rest of the country, which fuel is this state expensive in?
What a wide spread actually tells you (link to this section)
A large positive number means electricity is dear here relative to the rest of the country while gas is not. For a site with a significant heat load — laundry, kitchens, hot water, space heating — that is where the capital case for gas equipment is strongest.
A large negative number, like Hawaii at -78.1, usually means something structural: an island or an isolated grid where both fuels are shipped in and gas is a manufactured substitute rather than a piped commodity.
What this is useful for, and what it is not (link to this section)
These are published average prices for the commercial sector. A large site on a negotiated contract will not pay them, and in deregulated markets the gap can be wide.
5 states are not shown because EIA published no commercial gas price for them this month. An index is a comparison, not a cost: a state at 90 for both fuels is cheap in absolute terms and shows a spread of zero here. The absolute electricity price is published separately.
Converting two fuels to a common unit looks rigorous and hides an assumption about the appliance. This page would rather answer a narrower question honestly.
How we worked this out
Both prices are US Energy Information Administration figures for June 2026: commercial-sector retail electricity in cents per kWh, and natural gas delivered to commercial consumers in dollars per thousand cubic feet.
Each fuel is indexed against its own US national average for the same month - electricity 14.19 c/kWh, gas $12.71 per MCF - so 100 means a state pays exactly the national average for that fuel.
The headline figure is the power index minus the gas index. A large positive number means electricity is dear in that state relative to the rest of the country while gas is not, which is where switching heat from power to gas is worth most. A negative number means the reverse.
The two fuels are NOT converted to a common energy unit, and this page does not claim one is cheaper per unit of heat. That comparison needs a heat-content factor for gas and an efficiency figure for each appliance, and a gas dryer, a resistive electric dryer and a heat-pump dryer differ enough to change the answer. Indexing each fuel against its own national average avoids both assumptions.
5 states are not shown because EIA published no commercial natural gas price for them in this month: Connecticut, Florida, Louisiana, New Jersey, Pennsylvania.
These are published average prices. A large site on a negotiated contract will not pay them.
The numbers
46 rows · as at 2026-06
46 rows
| Region | index points, power minus gas | Electricity vs US average | Gas vs US average | Electricity (c/kWh) | Gas ($/MCF) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Vermont | 96.70 | 150.0 | 53.0 | 21.22 | $6.72 |
| California | 82.50 | 193.0 | 110.0 | 27.33 | $14.00 |
| New York | 76.30 | 166.0 | 90.0 | 23.56 | $11.41 |
| Alaska | 54.20 | 165.0 | 111.0 | 23.42 | $14.09 |
| New Mexico | 50.80 | 76.0 | 25.0 | 10.82 | $3.24 |
| Massachusetts | 44.20 | 173.0 | 129.0 | 24.52 | $16.34 |
| District of Columbia | 31.30 | 165.0 | 133.0 | 23.38 | $16.96 |
| New Hampshire | 29.20 | 150.0 | 120.0 | 21.22 | $15.30 |
| Nevada | 25.50 | 69.0 | 44.0 | 9.83 | $5.56 |
| Colorado | 23 | 100.0 | 77.0 | 14.19 | $9.79 |
| Wisconsin | 21.10 | 99.0 | 78.0 | 14.05 | $9.90 |
| Montana | 18.80 | 95.0 | 76.0 | 13.48 | $9.68 |
| Rhode Island | 17.20 | 160.0 | 143.0 | 22.70 | $18.15 |
| Arizona | 15.90 | 88.0 | 72.0 | 12.47 | $9.15 |
| Minnesota | 15.40 | 96.0 | 81.0 | 13.68 | $10.29 |
| South Dakota | 11.40 | 80.0 | 69.0 | 11.35 | $8.72 |
| Idaho | 11.10 | 70.0 | 59.0 | 9.92 | $7.47 |
| Michigan | 9.20 | 117.0 | 108.0 | 16.63 | $13.72 |
| Tennessee | 9 | 98.0 | 89.0 | 13.94 | $11.34 |
| Utah | 8.90 | 77.0 | 69.0 | 10.99 | $8.71 |
| Ohio | 8.80 | 97.0 | 88.0 | 13.77 | $11.22 |
| Maine | 7 | 157.0 | 150.0 | 22.24 | $19.03 |
| Georgia | 3.10 | 84.0 | 81.0 | 11.91 | $10.28 |
| Indiana | 2.70 | 100.0 | 97.0 | 14.15 | $12.33 |
| Arkansas | 0.80 | 81.0 | 81.0 | 11.54 | $10.24 |
| North Dakota | -1.30 | 57.0 | 58.0 | 8.02 | $7.35 |
| Wyoming | -2.20 | 71.0 | 73.0 | 10.01 | $9.25 |
| Maryland | -2.90 | 119.0 | 122.0 | 16.84 | $15.45 |
| Iowa | -5.40 | 90.0 | 96.0 | 12.79 | $12.14 |
| Mississippi | -7.30 | 97.0 | 105.0 | 13.83 | $13.32 |
| Nebraska | -8.60 | 62.0 | 71.0 | 8.82 | $8.99 |
| Alabama | -10.90 | 103.0 | 114.0 | 14.67 | $14.52 |
| Missouri | -25 | 90.0 | 115.0 | 12.71 | $14.56 |
| Virginia | -27.80 | 77.0 | 105.0 | 10.99 | $13.38 |
| South Carolina | -28.30 | 82.0 | 110.0 | 11.62 | $14.00 |
| Oregon | -30.80 | 75.0 | 105.0 | 10.59 | $13.40 |
| Washington | -32.10 | 83.0 | 115.0 | 11.77 | $14.62 |
| Illinois | -36.60 | 102.0 | 139.0 | 14.53 | $17.67 |
| Texas | -39 | 61.0 | 100.0 | 8.66 | $12.72 |
| North Carolina | -41.70 | 74.0 | 116.0 | 10.51 | $14.72 |
| West Virginia | -44 | 78.0 | 122.0 | 11.09 | $15.52 |
| Delaware | -46.60 | 101.0 | 148.0 | 14.40 | $18.82 |
| Kansas | -50 | 86.0 | 136.0 | 12.27 | $17.34 |
| Oklahoma | -59.40 | 70.0 | 129.0 | 9.90 | $16.42 |
| Kentucky | -63.70 | 87.0 | 151.0 | 12.40 | $19.20 |
| Hawaii | -78.10 | 339.0 | 417.0 | 48.05 | $52.96 |
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
Electricity and gas are priced in separate markets, and in 25 of 46 states they pull in opposite directions. Where power runs above its national average and gas below, moving a heat load between them is worth real money — which is a different question from which fuel is cheaper per unit of heat.
Where it came from
- US Energy Information Administration — Electricity retail sales
US federal government — public domain · published monthly
- US Energy Information Administration — Natural gas prices
US federal government — public domain · published monthly
When this page changes next
Both fuels are published monthly by EIA, on slightly different lags. This page uses the earlier of the two months so the comparison is never mixed, and changes whenever both have moved on. 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, "Where gas is cheap and power is expensive", APXXO, 2026. https://apxxo.com/en-us/data/fuel-advantage-by-state/
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