Why electric bills are rising in 2026

EIA's monthly price table is the cleanest national check on whether residential electricity got more expensive over the past year. Electric Power Monthly Table 5.6.A, retrieved October 10, 2026, reports the average retail price of electricity to ultimate customers by end-use sector and by state, for July 2026 and July 2025, in cents per kilowatt-hour. This guide reads that table next to the 2025 final EIA-861 Average Bill file, released October 7, 2026. The July table is a price. The annual file is a bill, a price, and a usage figure for the whole year.

The national July comparison

The United States residential price in Table 5.6.A is 18.31¢ per kilowatt-hour in July 2026 and 17.45¢ in July 2025. The difference is 0.86¢. That figure is the price of a kilowatt-hour in those two months. A bill also depends on how many kilowatt-hours were used. The annual usage figure in the 2025 EIA-861 Average Bill file is 874.3 kilowatt-hours a month, paired with 17.23¢ and a $150.68 average bill. Multiply the July 2026 price by that annual usage and you get about $160.09. That product shows the scale of an 18.31¢ price on a typical 2025 month of use. It is an illustration, and the July table itself reports cents, not July bills.

The July 2026 national price also sits above the 2025 annual average of 17.23¢. A summer month and a full year measure different stretches of the year. Air conditioning, fuel adjustments, and billing cycles can move a July print while the annual average stays put. Table 5.6.A reports the two monthly prices. The annual file reports the year.

States where the July price fell

The largest decline in the residential column, July 2026 minus July 2025, is Connecticut: 27.60¢ down to 24.16¢, a drop of 3.44¢. Louisiana moved from 13.12¢ to 12.72¢. Utah moved from 13.45¢ to 13.12¢. Wyoming moved from 14.64¢ to 14.36¢. New Jersey moved from 25.32¢ to 25.19¢. Florida moved from 15.11¢ to 15.03¢. Those are the six states in this workbook whose July 2026 residential price is below July 2025. The other 45 are higher. A headline that says every state's electric price rose over that year is reading a different table.

Connecticut's annual 2025 picture, from the Average Bill file, is still a high-bill state: $206.46 a month, 29.31¢ per kilowatt-hour, 704.3 kilowatt-hours. The July 2026 price of 24.16¢ is below that annual average. Both numbers are in the federal files. The July print fell. The 2025 bill was still one of the highest in the country.

States where the July price rose the most

Hawaii's residential price in the table is 39.36¢ in July 2025 and 48.00¢ in July 2026, a rise of 8.64¢. Maine moved from 27.98¢ to 32.41¢. New Hampshire moved from 22.79¢ to 26.60¢. New York moved from 26.22¢ to 29.90¢. Maryland moved from 18.83¢ to 21.41¢. Those are the five largest increases in the residential column of the workbook used here. The table's title is the change between those two Julys. EIA publishes the cents. It leaves fuel, storms, data centers, rate cases, and weather for other documents.

Hawaii's 2025 annual average bill is the highest in the Average Bill file, at $207.89, on 40.40¢ and 514.6 kilowatt-hours a month. The July 2026 price of 48.00¢ is above that annual 40.40¢. A household using the 2025 monthly average of 514.6 kilowatt-hours is on a different dollar path at 48¢ than at 40.40¢. The annual file covers 2025. The July table is a single summer month in 2026.

Annual bills and July prices measure different things

The 2025 average bill ranks are not the same as the July 2026 price ranks. The lowest average bills in the 2025 file are New Mexico at $94.65 (14.85¢, 637.5 kilowatt-hours), Utah at $99.06 (13.02¢, 761.0), Colorado at $103.30 (15.69¢, 658.2), Idaho at $110.36 (11.83¢, 932.7), and Montana at $110.80 (12.99¢, 852.6). The highest average bills are Hawaii at $207.89, Connecticut at $206.46, Maryland at $184.42 (19.53¢, 944.5 kilowatt-hours), Alabama at $184.31 (16.09¢, 1,145.4 kilowatt-hours), and Massachusetts at $181.08 (30.41¢, 595.5 kilowatt-hours).

Alabama's bill is high because usage is high. California's cents are high, 31.35¢, and the average bill is $154.73 because usage is the lowest in the file at 493.5 kilowatt-hours. A July price increase in cents raises a high-usage state by more dollars per household than the same cents raise a low-usage state. The 2025 usage column is the official residential usage figure for the year. July usage would be required to turn Table 5.6.A into July bills, and that column lives in the annual file.

What to put next to your own bill

Put your state's July 2026 cents next to its July 2025 cents, then next to the 2025 annual price and the 2025 average bill. If July 2026 is above July 2025, the monthly retail price EIA published went up. If your own bill went up, split the change into usage and price. The same cents on more kilowatt-hours is a usage change. More cents on the same kilowatt-hours is a price change. Both can happen in one month. Each utility page shows the annual cents, the annual bill, and the annual kilowatt-hours for 2015 through 2025 where the row exists. Duke Energy Carolinas in North Carolina moved from 10.44¢ and $108.96 in 2022 to 11.88¢ and $112.88 in 2023, then 13.94¢ and $137.16 in 2024, then 13.41¢ and $133.63 in 2025. That series is the utility's own revenue and sales. It runs through 2025, and it is a different series from Table 5.6.A.

For a charge that applies now, the tariff calculator is the closer document for the utilities whose sheets were read. Florida Power & Light's October 2026 peninsular insert prices the first 1,000 kilowatt-hours at 12.258¢ plus a $10.52 base charge, before gross receipts tax and franchise fees. That is an October 2026 schedule. The state page prints the July pair from the table.

How to read the 0.86¢

The sources for the national change are Table 5.6.A and the EIA-861 2025 Average Bill and Sales files, retrieved in October 2026. The 0.86¢ is the difference between two published monthly prices. A later EIA note could assign that change to a fuel, a utility, or a class of customer. The workbook retrieved on October 10, 2026, reports the prices themselves.

A practical reading order is short. Start with your state's July 2026 cents and July 2025 cents on the state page, and note whether the price rose or fell. Then read the 2025 average bill, the 2025 cents, and the 2025 kilowatt-hours. A bill can be high when the July price fell, as Connecticut shows at $206.46 for the year and 24.16¢ in July 2026. A bill can be moderate when the cents are high, as California shows at $154.73 on 31.35¢ and 493.5 kilowatt-hours. Then, for a utility with a checked schedule, compare one usage level on the tariff with the EIA average and keep the labels. The tariff explains a line item. The July table explains a month's retail price. The annual file explains a year of revenue and sales. Read them in that order when a headline says bills are rising and you want the figure that actually moved.