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.
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 year since 2015: home revenue, kWh sold, homes, price and bill by utility owner, for the US and each state, as a gzipped CSV.
Download CSV (gzip)Home prices in 2025
Share of homes by their utility's average price per kilowatt-hour, in 2-cent bands.
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| 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 20¢ | 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 28¢ | 1.3% | 13.3% | 0.0% |
| 28 to 30¢ | 1.6% | 0.0% | 0.0% |
| 30¢ or more | 11.4% | 0.5% | 0.6% |
Price change by state, 2020 to 2025
Investor-owned prices rose faster than nonprofit (public and co-op) prices in 38 of the 48 states with both: investor-owned against nonprofit.
0%20%40%60%
- Maine
- Washington
- California
- New Jersey
- New York
- Ohio
- Delaware
- Oregon
- Oklahoma
- Illinois
- Pennsylvania
- Wyoming
- Hawaii
- Maryland
- Florida
- Colorado
- North Carolina
- Indiana
- Georgia
- Mississippi
- Wisconsin
- Rhode Island
- Virginia
- Montana
- Connecticut
- Alabama
- Minnesota
- Texas
- Arizona
- Utah
- North Dakota
- New Mexico
- Alaska
- New Hampshire
- Tennessee
- Nevada
- South Carolina
- Massachusetts
- Nonprofit prices rose as fast or faster in these 10
- South Dakota
- Michigan
- Louisiana
- Missouri
- Idaho
- Kansas
- Vermont
- Arkansas
- Iowa
- Kentucky
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.
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%
Showing 20 of 99
| New York State Electric & Gas | Investor-owned | +97% |
| San Diego Gas & Electric (SDG&E) | Investor-owned | +79% |
| Potomac Electric Power | Investor-owned | +76% |
| Rochester Gas & Electric | Investor-owned | +75% |
| Southern California Edison (SCE) | Investor-owned | +73% |
| Tampa Electric | Investor-owned | +72% |
| Ameren Illinois | Investor-owned | +72% |
| Central Maine Power | Investor-owned | +69% |
| Baltimore Gas & Electric | Investor-owned | +67% |
| Pacific Gas and Electric (PG&E) | Investor-owned | +59% |
| Appalachian Power (AEP) | Investor-owned | +59% |
| Puget Sound Energy | Investor-owned | +57% |
| National Grid (Niagara Mohawk) | Investor-owned | +57% |
| Duke Energy Ohio | Investor-owned | +52% |
| Portland General Electric | Investor-owned | +50% |
Showing 15 of 99
About the data
- Public power is common where electricity is cheap, so we also compared utilities within each state. Investor-owned prices rose faster in 38 of 48 states.
- 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.