Electricity Prices by State, Province & Region: The 2026 Maps
Electricity costs wildly different amounts depending on where you live — from 7.3¢/kWh in Quebec to 52¢ in Hawaii, a seven-fold gap across North America alone. Below, every US state, Canadian province, UK region and Australian state is mapped and ranked from cheapest to most expensive, with the typical bill each rate produces and the reasons behind the gaps.
Muhammad founded KilowattKit after spending hours trying to decode confusing electricity bills and realising there were no clear, jargon-free tools for ordinary homeowners. He researches energy rates, solar payback, EV charging, and heat pump economics across the US, UK, Canada, and Australia — sourcing every figure directly from official government and regulatory data.
⚡ Key findings across four markets
- 🇺🇸US: Idaho cheapest at 12.35¢/kWh, Hawaii priciest at 52¢ (imported oil) — national average 18.44¢, a 4×+ spread.
- 🇨🇦Canada: Quebec is the cheapest place in North America at 7.3¢/kWh (hydro); Nova Scotia the priciest province at 18.2¢.
- 🇬🇧UK: East Midlands cheapest (25.10p); Merseyside, N Wales & Cheshire priciest (27.66p + the highest standing charge).
- 🇦🇺Australia: Tasmania & Victoria cheapest (~28¢); South Australia the most expensive market on the list at 43.7¢.
- •Higher rate = faster payback: solar and efficiency break even years sooner wherever power is expensive.
US Electricity Prices by State — Map
Average residential price, ¢/kWh (EIA, May 2026). Greener = cheaper, redder = pricier.
All 50 States, Ranked Cheapest to Most Expensive
Typical monthly bill assumes a 900 kWh/month home. National average: 18.44¢/kWh.
| Rank | State | ¢ / kWh | Typical bill / mo |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Idaho (ID) | 12.35 | $111 |
| 2 | Utah (UT) | 12.96 | $117 |
| 3 | Oklahoma (OK) | 13.38 | $120 |
| 4 | Nebraska (NE) | 13.59 | $122 |
| 5 | Nevada (NV) | 13.60 | $122 |
| 6 | North Dakota (ND) | 13.61 | $122 |
| 7 | Missouri (MO) | 13.68 | $123 |
| 8 | New Mexico (NM) | 14.12 | $127 |
| 9 | Iowa (IA) | 14.14 | $127 |
| 10 | Louisiana (LA) | 14.15 | $127 |
| 11 | Arkansas (AR) | 14.36 | $129 |
| 12 | Tennessee (TN) | 14.47 | $130 |
| 13 | Montana (MT) | 14.67 | $132 |
| 14 | Wyoming (WY) | 14.80 | $133 |
| 15 | Washington (WA) | 14.95 | $135 |
| 16 | Kentucky (KY) | 14.98 | $135 |
| 17 | North Carolina (NC) | 15.09 | $136 |
| 18 | Kansas (KS) | 15.13 | $136 |
| 19 | Florida (FL) | 15.17 | $137 |
| 20 | Arizona (AZ) | 15.23 | $137 |
| 21 | South Dakota (SD) | 15.73 | $142 |
| 22 | Georgia (GA) | 15.84 | $143 |
| 23 | Colorado (CO) | 16.16 | $145 |
| 24 | Mississippi (MS) | 16.16 | $145 |
| 25 | South Carolina (SC) | 16.18 | $146 |
| 26 | Oregon (OR) | 16.27 | $146 |
| 27 | Texas (TX) | 16.44 | $148 |
| 28 | Alabama (AL) | 16.77 | $151 |
| 29 | West Virginia (WV) | 16.80 | $151 |
| 30 | Minnesota (MN) | 16.95 | $153 |
| 31 | Virginia (VA) | 17.61 | $158 |
| 32 | Indiana (IN) | 18.15 | $163 |
| 33 | Delaware (DE) | 19.38 | $174 |
| 34 | Ohio (OH) | 19.52 | $176 |
| 35 | Wisconsin (WI) | 19.74 | $178 |
| 36 | Pennsylvania (PA) | 21.55 | $194 |
| 37 | Maryland (MD) | 21.77 | $196 |
| 38 | Michigan (MI) | 22.01 | $198 |
| 39 | New Jersey (NJ) | 23.27 | $209 |
| 40 | Illinois (IL) | 23.85 | $215 |
| 41 | Vermont (VT) | 24.89 | $224 |
| 42 | New Hampshire (NH) | 27.33 | $246 |
| 43 | Connecticut (CT) | 27.37 | $246 |
| 44 | Alaska (AK) | 28.23 | $254 |
| 45 | Maine (ME) | 28.63 | $258 |
| 46 | Massachusetts (MA) | 28.82 | $259 |
| 47 | Rhode Island (RI) | 29.46 | $265 |
| 48 | New York (NY) | 29.93 | $269 |
| 49 | California (CA) | 33.25 | $299 |
| 50 | Hawaii (HI) | 52.00 | $468 |
UK Electricity Prices by Region — Map
Electricity unit rate, p/kWh (Ofgem price cap, Jul–Sep 2026, Direct Debit). Greener = cheaper.
All 14 UK Regions, Ranked by Unit Rate
Est. annual electricity cost assumes 2,700 kWh/year plus the daily standing charge. National average unit rate: 26.11p/kWh.
| Rank | Region | Unit p/kWh | Est. cost / yr |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | East Midlands | 25.10 | £873 |
| 2 | Northern (North East) | 25.22 | £916 |
| 3 | Yorkshire | 25.31 | £918 |
| 4 | West Midlands | 25.33 | £902 |
| 5 | Southern Scotland | 25.85 | £932 |
| 6 | North West | 26.13 | £879 |
| 7 | South Wales | 26.33 | £922 |
| 8 | London | 26.35 | £875 |
| 9 | Eastern | 26.38 | £909 |
| 10 | South West | 26.39 | £924 |
| 11 | Northern Scotland | 26.42 | £923 |
| 12 | Southern | 26.42 | £895 |
| 13 | South East | 26.67 | £919 |
| 14 | Merseyside, North Wales & Cheshire | 27.66 | £1,005 |
Canada Electricity Prices by Province — Map
Average all-in residential price, ¢/kWh CAD (2026). Greener = cheaper, redder = pricier.
All 10 Provinces, Ranked Cheapest to Most Expensive
Typical monthly bill assumes a 1,000 kWh/month home. Rates are all-in (energy + delivery), 2026.
| Rank | Province | ¢ / kWh | Typical bill / mo |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Quebec (QC) | 7.3 | C$73 |
| 2 | Manitoba (MB) | 9.5 | C$95 |
| 3 | New Brunswick (NB) | 12.5 | C$125 |
| 4 | British Columbia (BC) | 12.6 | C$126 |
| 5 | Newfoundland & Labrador (NL) | 13.5 | C$135 |
| 6 | Ontario (ON) | 14.0 | C$140 |
| 7 | Saskatchewan (SK) | 14.5 | C$145 |
| 8 | Alberta (AB) | 16.5 | C$165 |
| 9 | Prince Edward Island (PE) | 16.5 | C$165 |
| 10 | Nova Scotia (NS) | 18.2 | C$182 |
Territories (Yukon, NWT, Nunavut) are excluded — their small, largely diesel-powered grids sit far above provincial rates.
Australia Electricity Prices by State — Map
Average residential usage rate, ¢/kWh AUD (2026). Greener = cheaper, redder = pricier.
All 8 States & Territories, Ranked by Usage Rate
Est. annual usage cost assumes 5,000 kWh/year (excludes the daily supply charge).
| Rank | State / Territory | ¢ / kWh | Est. usage / yr |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Tasmania (TAS) | 28.0 | A$1,400 |
| 2 | Victoria (VIC) | 28.7 | A$1,435 |
| 3 | ACT (ACT) | 30.8 | A$1,540 |
| 4 | Northern Territory (NT) | 31.7 | A$1,585 |
| 5 | Queensland (QLD) | 33.3 | A$1,665 |
| 6 | Western Australia (WA) | 33.3 | A$1,665 |
| 7 | New South Wales (NSW) | 37.8 | A$1,890 |
| 8 | South Australia (SA) | 43.7 | A$2,185 |
NEM states show the average of their distribution-network usage rates (Canstar, May 2026); WA (Synergy Home Plan A1) and NT (Jacana Energy) are government-regulated single tariffs effective July 2026.
Why the Same Electricity Costs 7× More in Some Places
A kilowatt-hour is a kilowatt-hour — the physics is identical in Honolulu and Montréal. So why does one cost 52 cents and the other 7? Three forces explain almost the entire spread, and they apply on every continent:
- 1.How the power is made. Places leaning on cheap hydro (Quebec, Manitoba, Washington, Tasmania), wind (Great Plains) or their own gas run cheap. Hawaii still burns imported oil shipped across an ocean — the single biggest reason it tops every ranking.
- 2.The cost of delivery. Long rural lines, wildfire hardening (California), storm repairs and ageing-grid upgrades all land on the bill. This is also why the UK's regional differences exist at all — wholesale energy is priced nationally, but each region's local network charge differs.
- 3.Policy and taxes. Clean-energy programs, efficiency levies and local taxes add a few cents in some places and almost nothing in others.
The practical takeaway: your rate is mostly set by geography, not by your habits. What you can control is how many kilowatt-hours you buy — and the more expensive your rate, the more each one saved is worth.
The UK Twist: Watch the Standing Charge, Not Just the Rate
In the US, the headline ¢/kWh tells almost the whole story. In the UK it doesn't — because every region also carries a fixed daily standing charge you pay before using a single unit. That charge ranges from 44.78p a day in London to 70.76p in Merseyside, North Wales & Cheshire — a £95-a-year gap on the standing charge alone.
So a low unit rate can be undercut by a high standing charge, and vice versa. Low-usage homes should weight the standing charge heavily; high-usage homes care more about the p/kWh. It's the same reason two neighbours on the "same" price cap can see very different bills.
What a High Rate Means for Solar & Efficiency
Here's the flip side of an expensive rate: every improvement pays back faster. A solar panel in California offsets electricity worth 33¢/kWh; the identical panel in Idaho offsets 12¢. Same hardware, same sunshine hours — but the Californian system breaks even in roughly a third of the time.
That's why the "is it worth it?" answer depends heavily on this map. If you're in a red state or region, efficiency upgrades, a heat pump, or solar almost always make sense sooner than the national averages suggest. Price your own payback at your exact local rate:
Drop your state or region's rate into our calculators to see your true bill, solar payback, and appliance costs — no averages, no email.
How We Calculated These Figures
- 1US: average residential retail prices from the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA), May 2026. Typical monthly bill = rate × 900 kWh.
- 2Canada: average all-in residential prices by province (energy + delivery), 2026. Typical monthly bill = rate × 1,000 kWh. Territories excluded.
- 3UK: unit rates and daily standing charges from the Ofgem price cap, 1 July–30 September 2026, Direct Debit, for the 14 GB distribution regions. Est. annual cost = unit × 2,700 kWh + standing × 365.
- 4Australia: average residential usage rates by state (Canstar network averages, May 2026; WA & NT regulated tariffs, July 2026). Est. annual usage = rate × 5,000 kWh (excludes supply charge).
- 5Maps are tile cartograms — each state, province or region is one equal cell in its approximate geographic position, coloured by price so the pattern reads at a glance.
A note on comparing currencies: rates are shown in each country's own currency and are not exchange-rate adjusted — the point is where you rank within your own market, since that's the rate your bill and any solar payback actually use.
These are official published averages. Your own price depends on your supplier, tariff, and exact usage — so treat the map as the lie of the land, and your latest bill as the ground truth.