US Energy Price Monitorby KadoaUpdated weeklyStar on GitHub

Investor-owned utilities charge 23% more for electricity than public ones

In 2025, homes 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 prices rose 34% and public ones 19%, against 24% inflation.

Average home price by utility owner

Change since 2020 against inflation, or cents per kilowatt-hour since 2015.

Source: EIA annual survey of utilities (Form 861), homes buying supply and delivery from their utility; BLS CPI.

Home prices in 2025

Share of homes by their utility's average price per kilowatt-hour, in 2-cent bands.

Investor-owned 67% of homes paid 12 to 20 cents, and 11% paid 30 cents or more.
Public 61% paid under 14 cents. The bump at the high end is LADWP and Long Island Power Authority, 13% of public homes.
Co-op 52% paid under 14 cents.

Source: EIA annual survey of utilities (Form 861), homes buying supply and delivery from their utility.

Price change by state, 2020 to 2025

States sorted by how far investor-owned prices pulled ahead of nonprofit (public and co-op) prices. The gap is widest at the top.

  1. Maine
  2. Washington
  3. California
  4. New Jersey
  5. New York
  6. Ohio
  7. Delaware
  8. Oregon
  9. Oklahoma
  10. Illinois
  11. Pennsylvania
  12. Wyoming
  13. Hawaii
  14. Maryland
  15. Florida
  16. Colorado
  17. North Carolina
  18. Indiana
  19. Georgia
  20. Mississippi
  21. Wisconsin
  22. Rhode Island
  23. Virginia
  24. Montana
  25. Connecticut
  26. Alabama
  27. Minnesota
  28. Texas
  29. Arizona
  30. Utah
  31. North Dakota
  32. New Mexico
  33. Alaska
  34. New Hampshire
  35. Tennessee
  36. Nevada
  37. South Carolina
  38. Massachusetts
  39. Nonprofit prices rose as fast or faster in these 10
  40. South Dakota
  41. Michigan
  42. Louisiana
  43. Missouri
  44. Idaho
  45. Kansas
  46. Vermont
  47. Arkansas
  48. Iowa
  49. Kentucky

Source: EIA annual survey of utilities (Form 861), homes buying supply and delivery from their utility.

Price gap after accounting for location

Average home price per kilowatt-hour in 2025. Hydro states get the most power from dams: WA, VT, ID, OR, MT, AK and SD.

  1. Public, all states14.5¢17.8¢+23%
  2. Public, no hydro states14.9¢17.9¢+20%
  3. Public and co-ops, same state15.7¢18.5¢+17%
  4. Co-ops, most rural14.1¢17.8¢+26%

Source: EIA annual survey of utilities (Form 861), homes buying supply and delivery from their utility.

Largest utilities, 2020 to 2025

Change in the average home price at utilities with 250,000 or more homes: investor-owned, public and co-op.

  1. New York State Electric & Gas, NY+97%
  2. San Diego Gas & Electric (SDG&E), CA+79%
  3. Potomac Electric Power, DC+76%
  4. Rochester Gas & Electric, NY+75%
  5. Southern California Edison (SCE), CA+73%
  6. Tampa Electric, FL+72%
  7. Ameren Illinois, IL+72%
  8. Central Maine Power, ME+69%
  9. Baltimore Gas & Electric, MD+67%
  10. Pacific Gas and Electric (PG&E), CA+59%
  11. Appalachian Power (AEP), VA+59%
  12. Puget Sound Energy, WA+57%
  13. National Grid (Niagara Mohawk), NY+57%
  14. Duke Energy Ohio, OH+52%
  15. Portland General Electric, OR+50%
  16. AEP Ohio, OH+50%
  17. PSO (AEP), OK+50%
  18. Potomac Electric Power, MD+49%
  19. Delmarva Power, DE+48%
  20. Duquesne Light, PA+46%
Showing 20 of 99

Source: EIA annual survey of utilities (Form 861), homes buying supply and delivery from their utility; BLS CPI.

Outage minutes a year by utility owner

Minutes without power for the average home, not counting major storms.

Source: EIA annual survey of utilities (Form 861), reliability.

About the data

  • Public power is common in cities and near federal dams, where power is cheap, and public utilities pay no income tax and borrow tax-free. That explains some of the gap, not why it grew.
  • Most of the gap opened from 2020 to 2023, during the energy price spike: 25% at investor-owned utilities, 11% at public utilities and co-ops. Before and since, both rose at about the same pace.
  • After inflation, investor-owned prices rose 7.9%. Public and co-op prices fell 4.3%.
  • Co-op homes have the highest bills, $159 a month in 2025, because they use the most power.
  • Homes that buy power from a retail supplier aren't in the investor-owned figures. Counting them, prices on investor-owned lines rose 36%.
  • Price is what homes paid divided by the kilowatt-hours they used, from EIA's yearly survey of utilities. Federal utilities and the smallest ones are left out.
  • The data shows what homes paid, not why. Investor-owned utilities earn a return for shareholders on what they build. Public utilities and co-ops have no shareholders. See the rate cases for increases utilities are asking for now.