Our Methodology

Electricity is one of the largest recurring utility bills for most US households. You deserve to know exactly where our rate, bill, and energy mix figures come from, and what they cannot tell you about your specific service.

Primary source: US Energy Information Administration

Every electricity rate on PowerBillPeek is anchored in the US Energy Information Administration (EIA) Electric Power Monthly. The EIA is the statistical agency of the US Department of Energy and is the authoritative source for US energy production, consumption, and price data. Electric Power Monthly publishes average residential, commercial, and industrial rates by state every month.

For each state we publish:

• Average residential rate— cents per kWh, the headline number for households.
• Commercial and industrial rates— for context, since they typically run below residential.
• Average monthly residential bill— the dollar amount the average household pays.
• Primary energy source— the dominant generation source (coal, natural gas, nuclear, hydro, solar, wind, etc.).
• Renewable percentage— share of total electricity generation from renewable sources.

Utility-level data

Beyond state averages, we include data on the largest utilities in each state from EIA Form 861, which all US electric utilities are required to file annually. Form 861 captures utility names, customer counts, average rates by customer class, and ownership structure (investor-owned, cooperative, municipal).

Cross-reference and verification

• EIA Electric Power Monthly — the primary source for state averages.
• EIA State Energy Profiles — deeper state-by-state energy profiles.
• EIA Form 861 — utility-level filings.
• FERC Electric Industry — FERC electric industry data.
• DOE Energy Saver — US DOE consumer guidance on appliance efficiency.

Update frequency

EIA publishes Electric Power Monthly each month with a roughly 2-month lag. State Energy Profiles update annually. Form 861 publishes annually. We refresh our combined dataset monthly.

Limitations you should know about

• State average ≠ your bill. Within a state, rates vary significantly between investor-owned utilities, rural electric cooperatives, and municipal utilities. Your actual rate depends on which utility serves your address.
• Deregulated vs regulated markets. 13 states plus DC have deregulated electricity markets where consumers can choose their generation supplier. The state average masks a wide range of competitive offers there.
• Time-of-use, demand charges, tiers.Many utilities charge different rates by time of day or usage tier. The state average can't capture your specific rate structure.
• Fixed charges not in $/kWh. Most US utility bills include monthly fixed charges plus the per-kWh rate.
• Lag. EIA data has a 1-3 month publication lag. Mid-year rate cases can shift actual bills before they show in the data.
• Not energy advice. For decisions involving solar installation, utility plan changes, or major appliance investments, consult a qualified professional.

Corrections and feedback

If a published EIA figure disagrees with what you see here, please contact us with the source URL.

This methodology page was last reviewed in March 2026. Material changes to how we source or compute the data will be reflected here before they reach production pages.