February update: Where residential electricity bills are increasing the most

Unfortunately, low rates don’t always mean low bills. The amount of power a customer consumes during a billing period affects bills as well. An example? Residents of Louisiana were charged the third-lowest residential electricity rate in the February report – 9.94 cents/kWh. But the bills they paid were the 22^nd-highest in the U.S. – $117.99. That’s because they use the most electricity on average each month.

So which state recorded the largest bill increase for the rates shown in the February report? Again, Nevada, for the same reason. Average bills there increased by $64.39 from the prior month. Here are the states where average bills increased by the largest amount.

And here are some ways to reduce your bills.

Rates fell in 42 states

While the national average residential rate fell 4.4 percent in the February report, 42 states experienced declines in their electricity rates. The drops were led by Missouri, where prices fell 8.9 percent over the previous month to 10.07 cents/kWh.

Following are the states where rates decreased by the largest percentage:

Bills weren’t up in all states. The biggest monthly drop came in Missouri. Residents on average saved nearly $10 on bills for the month. Nationally, bills fell an average of $2.17 to $115.74.

Following are the states where average bills decreased by the largest amount.

Arthur Murray
Energy Expert
Arthur directs content strategy for ChooseEnergy.com, taking advantage of more than 20 years of newspaper and magazine experience. His articles have appeared on Zillow.com, Business.com, Nasdaq.com, and USNews.com, among others. Reach out to us with any questions or concerns. 

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