Electricity Guides & Explainers
Plain-English guides built on the same EIA data as the rest of this site - bills, rates, reliability and solar, explained with real numbers.
What Is the Average Electric Bill in the U.S.?
The average U.S. residential electric bill was $151 a month in 2025 - and why yours can be double or half that, state by state.
Why Electricity Prices Vary So Much by State
Residential electricity averages 11.82¢/kWh in North Dakota and 40.40¢/kWh in Hawaii. The reasons: fuel, water, regulation, density and weather.
How to Read Your Electric Bill: Every Charge Explained
Customer charges, energy and demand charges, fuel adjustments, riders and taxes - a plain-English tour of every line on a U.S. electric bill.
Average Realized Rate vs Tariff Rate: What You Actually Pay
A tariff sheet is a menu; the average realized rate is the meal's actual cost. Why this site publishes revenue divided by sales - and when each number matters.
SAIDI, SAIFI and CAIDI Explained: How Reliable Is Your Utility?
The three numbers utilities report for outage reliability - what SAIDI, SAIFI and CAIDI mean, what counts as good, and how to look up your own utility.
Net Metering and Rooftop Solar: How Selling Power Back Works
How net metering credits rooftop solar, why rules differ by state and utility, and which U.S. utilities host the most customer solar.
Investor-Owned, Municipal and Cooperative Utilities: What's the Difference?
The U.S. has 3,000+ electric utilities in four ownership flavors. Who owns yours changes how its rates are set, who it answers to, and often what you pay.
How to Lower Your Electric Bill: What Actually Moves the Number
Your bill is usage times price, and you only control one of them. The fixes that save real kWh - heating, cooling, water heating and the always-on load - ranked.