Electricity Prices by State, August 2026: Hawaii Up 22.5%

The average U.S. home paid 18.16 cents per kilowatt-hour (kWh) for electricity in August 2026, up 3.4% from 17.57 cents a year earlier, according to preliminary data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA). Residential prices rose in 43 states and fell in 7. Hawaii posted the biggest increase and Connecticut the biggest drop.

Price was only half of the August story. EIA reports that residential electricity sales rose 7.9% from August 2025, in a month when most states needed more cooling than a year earlier. In Hawaii, where the statewide average reached 47.18 cents, our Hawaii rates and solar guide covers the utility-level changes behind the number.

The Short Version

Source: EIA, Electric Power Monthly, Table 5.6.A, released October 23, 2026. The 1,000 kWh line is our arithmetic (price × 1,000 kWh) and leaves out taxes and any charge not captured in EIA’s average.

Where Prices Rose Most

Nine of this month’s top 10 were also among July’s biggest increases: Hawaii, Maine, New Hampshire, Michigan, Ohio, Idaho, Virginia, Delaware and Pennsylvania all rose by more than 9% in both months, according to our July report. Virginia’s 11.3% increase adds $17.90 per 1,000 kWh. Maine’s 14.1% adds $39.70, because Maine started from a much higher price.

Where Prices Fell

Connecticut is the only large drop. A 5.66-cent decline takes $56.60 off the cost of 1,000 kWh at the statewide average. Even so, Connecticut’s 24.51 cents is the tenth-highest residential price in the country. Our Connecticut electricity rates page tracks what is changing there. The other six declines are 3.8% or less, and three of them are under half a percent.

Highest and Lowest Prices

Hawaii’s price is 3.7 times Nevada’s (47.18 ÷ 12.72). At 1,000 kWh, that is $471.80 against $127.20.

Every state’s figure is on our rates by state page.

Why August Bills Rose Faster Than Prices

EIA’s August release points to weather. It reports that 45 states and the District of Columbia had more cooling degree days (a measure of how much cooling a month demands) than in August 2025, and that residential electricity sales were up 7.9%, the largest increase of any sector.

A bill is roughly price times kWh, plus fixed charges. Here is what that means for one household, using illustrative numbers:

Assumptions: U.S. average residential prices from EIA (17.57¢ and 18.16¢ per kWh); the 7.9% usage increase applies EIA’s national sales growth to one home for illustration. EIA’s sales figure is a total for all customers, not a per-home number, and your own usage change depends on your weather and equipment.

The point for households: if your August bill jumped, check the kWh line before blaming the rate. Our guide to why an electric bill is so high walks through the usual causes.

What These Numbers Are, and Are Not

• What EIA measures: total revenue from residential customers divided by total kWh sold to them, for every utility in the state.
• Fixed charges are inside it. A monthly service charge is revenue, so it raises the average. The figure is not the per-kWh energy rate printed on a tariff.
• It blends utilities. Investor-owned utilities, cooperatives and city utilities are averaged together. No single utility’s rate represents a state.
• Hot months can pull the average down. When more kWh are sold, fixed charges are spread over more of them, which can lower revenue per kWh even if no rate changed.
• The data are preliminary. EIA labels these monthly values as estimates and revises them later.
• EIA’s headline state count is a different measure. EIA’s summary says 46 states and the District of Columbia saw higher average revenue per kWh and four saw lower, but that counts all sectors combined. The 43 states in this article are the residential figures only.

EIA’s table does not say why any state’s price moved. Fuel costs, supply auctions, approved rate cases and temporary bill credits all play a part, and they differ by state.

What It Means for Homeowners Considering Solar

A higher retail price raises the value of each kWh a solar system produces and you use at home. It does not automatically raise what you earn for power you send to the grid; that depends on your utility’s export credit, which in some states is below the retail rate. Summer is also when solar output is strongest, so the summer months are when panels offset the most usage for most homes.

Do not use a statewide average in a solar quote. Use the rate on your own bill, and size the system from your own 12 months of kWh. Our solar system size calculator takes those numbers directly.

What to Do With This

1. Find your own price: divide a recent bill’s total electric charges by the kWh used, then compare it with your state’s average.
2. Compare your August kWh with August 2025 on your bill’s usage history. If usage rose, weather or new equipment is likely a bigger factor than the rate.
3. Check your state guide for approved and pending rate changes before assuming this year’s trend continues.

Limitations

This article reports one month of preliminary data compared with the same month a year earlier. It does not forecast prices, and a single summer month is strongly affected by weather. EIA’s next Electric Power Monthly, expected to cover September, is scheduled for November 24, 2026.

Sources and verification