electric rates by state

In trying to determine if the economics of renewable energy work for your personal situation it is a good idea to understand what you are paying for electricity in the first place.   Electric rates and the structure of electric rates vary a great deal by state and sometimes by region within a state. You should be able to tell the rate you are paying from your current utility bill though sometimes the actual bills from utility companies are anything but clear. If you have trouble figuring it out from your bill another  good source of information on rates is the Energy Information Administration which is a division of the U.S. Department of Energy.  You can find them at www.eia.doe.gov. 

The table below shows the costs of electricity by state and region taken for November 2009:

Average Retail Price of Electricity by State
	for 2009
Source:   U.S. Energy Information Administration
Census Division	Residential	Commercial1
and State	9-Nov	9-Nov
New England	16.97	14.54
Connecticut	20.57	16.11
Maine	15.29	12.3
Massachusetts	15.89	14.44
New Hampshire	16.25	13.9
Rhode Island	15.11	13.59
Vermont	14.93	12.94
Middle Atlantic	14.47	12.69
New Jersey	15.63	13.07
New York	16.99	14.49
Pennsylvania	11.59	9.43
East North Central	10.78	8.84
Illinois	11.1	8.06
Indiana	9.15	7.9
Michigan	11.58	9.76
Ohio	10.61	9.54
Wisconsin	11.55	9.24
West North Central	8.57	6.93
Iowa	9.13	6.74
Kansas	9.56	7.79
Minnesota	9.57	7.57
Missouri	7.6	6.08
Nebraska	8.02	6.99
North Dakota	7.56	6.86
South Dakota	8.49	7.07
South Atlantic	11.31	9.64
Delaware	14.57	11.84
District of Columbia	12.66	13.18
Florida	12.43	10.81
Georgia	9.59	8.79
Maryland	14.23	11.48
North Carolina	10.16	8.01
South Carolina	10.64	9.03
Virginia	10.51	8
West Virginia	8.38	7.49
East South Central	9.21	8.8
Alabama	10.08	9.61
Kentucky	8.03	7.15
Mississippi	10.3	9.5
Tennessee	8.87	8.93
West South Central	10.83	8.72
Arkansas	9.28	7.42
Louisiana	7.52	7.28
Oklahoma	8.25	6.66
Texas	12.37	9.54
Mountain	9.78	8.45
Arizona	9.86	8.88
Colorado	10.4	8.85
Idaho	7.83	6.7
Montana	8.8	7.93
Nevada	13.72	10.64
New Mexico	9.6	8.26
Utah	8	6.48
Wyoming	8.53	7.36
Pacific Contiguous	11.88	10.88
California	14.6	12.24
Oregon	8.82	7.74
Washington	7.81	7.28
Pacific Noncontiguous	22.21	19.42
Alaska	16.73	14.27
Hawaii	26.23	23.92
U.S. Total	11.33	9.82