Investor-owned utilities cost 23% extra for electrical energy than public ones: Electricity Prices by Utility Proprietor

In 2025, houses paid 17.8¢ a kilowatt-hour at investor-owned utilities, 14.5¢ at public utilities and 14.1¢ at co-ops. Since 2020, investor-owned costs rose 34% and public ones 19%, towards 24% inflation.
Average house value by utility proprietor
Change since 2020 towards inflation, or cents per kilowatt-hour since 2015.
Investor-ownedPublicCo-opInflation
Investor-ownedPublicCo-op
| Year | Investor-owned | Public | Co-op |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 17.8¢ +34% | 14.5¢ +19% | 14.1¢ +19% |
| 2024 | 16.9¢ +28% | 13.9¢ +14% | 13.5¢ +14% |
| 2023 | 16.6¢ +25% | 13.4¢ +10% | 13.2¢ +12% |
| 2022 | 15.4¢ +17% | 13.3¢ +9.4% | 13.1¢ +11% |
| 2021 | 13.9¢ +5.1% | 12.4¢ +1.8% | 12.1¢ +2.2% |
| 2020 | 13.3¢ | 12.2¢ | 11.8¢ |
| 2019 | 13.1¢ | 12.0¢ | 11.9¢ |
| 2018 | 13.1¢ | 12.0¢ | 11.8¢ |
| 2017 | 13.3¢ | 11.8¢ | 11.9¢ |
| 2016 | 12.9¢ | 11.6¢ | 11.6¢ |
| 2015 | 12.9¢ | 11.6¢ | 11.6¢ |
Every yr since 2015: house income, kWh offered, houses, value and invoice by utility proprietor, for the US and every state, as a gzipped CSV.
Home costs in 2025
Share of houses by their utility’s common value per kilowatt-hour, in 2-cent bands.
10¢20¢30¢+
10¢20¢30¢+
10¢20¢30¢+
| Price a kWh | Investor-owned | Public | Co-op |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 10¢ | 0.1% | 3.9% | 1.2% |
| 10 to 12¢ | 3.8% | 13.2% | 10.4% |
| 12 to 14¢ | 13.9% | 43.8% | 40.0% |
| 14 to 16¢ | 20.3% | 12.7% | 30.8% |
| 16 to 18¢ | 20.0% | 3.2% | 11.7% |
| 18 to twenty¢ | 12.4% | 6.5% | 2.4% |
| 20 to 22¢ | 9.1% | 1.5% | 1.0% |
| 22 to 24¢ | 2.7% | 0.9% | 0.8% |
| 24 to 26¢ | 3.4% | 0.6% | 0.9% |
| 26 to twenty-eight¢ | 1.3% | 13.3% | 0.0% |
| 28 to 30¢ | 1.6% | 0.0% | 0.0% |
| 30¢ or extra | 11.4% | 0.5% | 0.6% |
Price change by state, 2020 to 2025
Investor-owned costs rose quicker than nonprofit (public and co-op) costs in 38 of the 48 states with each: investor-owned towards nonprofit.
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Largest utilities, 2020 to 2025
Change within the common house value at utilities with 250,000 or extra houses: investor-owned, public and co-op.
Inflation +24%
- New York State Electric & Gas, NY+97%
- San Diego Gas & Electric (SDG&E), CA+79%
- Potomac Electric Power, DC+76%
- Rochester Gas & Electric, NY+75%
- Southern California Edison (SCE), CA+73%
- Tampa Electric, FL+72%
- Ameren Illinois, IL+72%
- Central Maine Power, ME+69%
- Baltimore Gas & Electric, MD+67%
- Pacific Gas and Electric (PG&E), CA+59%
- Appalachian Power (AEP), VA+59%
- Puget Sound Energy, WA+57%
- National Grid (Niagara Mohawk), NY+57%
- Duke Energy Ohio, OH+52%
- Portland General Electric, OR+50%
- AEP Ohio, OH+50%
- PSO (AEP), OK+50%
- Potomac Electric Power, MD+49%
- Delmarva Power, DE+48%
- Duquesne Light, PA+46%
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Showing 15 of 99
About the information
- Public energy is frequent the place electrical energy is affordable, so we additionally in contrast utilities inside every state. Investor-owned costs rose quicker in 38 of 48 states.
- Most of the hole opened from 2020 to 2023, throughout the vitality value spike: 25% at investor-owned utilities, 11% at public utilities and co-ops. Before and since, each rose at about the identical tempo.
- After inflation, investor-owned costs rose 7.9%. Public and co-op costs fell 4.3%.
- Co-op houses have the best payments, $159 a month in 2025, as a result of they use probably the most energy.
- Homes that purchase energy from a retail provider aren’t within the investor-owned figures. Counting them, costs on investor-owned strains rose 36%.
- Price is what houses paid divided by the kilowatt-hours they used, from EIA’s yearly survey of utilities. Federal utilities and the smallest ones are overlooked.
- The information reveals what houses paid, not why. Investor-owned utilities earn a return for shareholders on what they construct. Public utilities and co-ops haven’t any shareholders. See the rate cases for will increase utilities are asking for now.
