Electricity Bill Increase Calculator
Your usage, the old rate and the new one
Your result will appear here
Fill in the fields on the left and this updates as you type.
Know what this estimate is based on
- Jurisdiction
- General mathematical model
- Scope and limitations
- Educational estimate only. Confirm the assumptions, current rules, fees, and rounding that apply to your situation before making a decision.
- Source links checked
- Jul 30, 2026
Built and regression-tested by Smart Tools Lab. It has not been individually reviewed by a licensed financial, tax, or legal professional.
How to use
- 01
Find your monthly usage in kilowatt-hours on a recent bill. Use an average of several months, or a year's total divided by 12, because usage swings with the seasons.
- 02
Add up every charge on the bill that is priced per kWh, supply and delivery alike, and enter the total in cents as the old price. Do the same with the figures in your utility's rate notice for the new price.
- 03
Enter the fixed monthly customer charge before and after the change. It is the flat amount billed whatever you use.
- 04
Read the headline: what the new prices add to a year of bills at the same usage.
- 05
Check the kWh cut that would keep the bill at its old total, and how the increase splits between the price per kWh and the fixed charge.
Formula
Monthly bill = kWh used × price per kWh ÷ 100 + fixed monthly charge, figured with the old prices and with the new. Change a month = new bill − old bill; a year = that × 12; as a percentage = change ÷ old bill. From the price per kWh = kWh × (new price − old price) ÷ 100; from the fixed charge = new fixed charge − old fixed charge. Usage that keeps the old bill = (old bill − new fixed charge) ÷ (new price ÷ 100), and the cut = your usage − that figure. When the new fixed charge alone is at or above the old bill, no cut is possible. All-in price per kWh = monthly bill ÷ kWh × 100.
Example
A home uses 900 kWh a month. Its utility raises the price from 16.80 to 18.60 cents per kWh, 10.7%, and the fixed customer charge from $12 to $15. The energy charge goes from $151.20 to $167.40 and the bill from $163.20 to $182.40, $19.20 a month more, or $230 a year, an 11.8% increase. Of the monthly increase, $16.20 comes from the price per kWh and $3.00 from the fixed charge. To keep paying $163.20 the home would have to use 797 kWh, a cut of 103 kWh a month or 11.5%. All in, each kWh now costs 20.27 cents against 18.13 before, and the new price is about 1% above the US residential average of 18.34 cents in June 2026.
Definitions
- Kilowatt-hour (kWh)
- The unit electricity is sold in: the energy a 1,000-watt appliance uses in one hour. Your bill shows how many you used in the billing period.
- Energy charge
- Every part of the bill priced per kWh, including supply, delivery and riders. On this page it is usage times the price per kWh.
- Fixed customer charge
- A flat monthly amount billed regardless of usage, for metering, billing and the connection itself. Using less electricity does not reduce it.
- All-in price per kWh
- The whole monthly bill divided by the kWh used, so the fixed charge is included. It is always higher than the price per kWh alone.
- Rate case
- The process in which a regulated utility asks its state utility commission to change its prices. An approved case usually changes both the per-kWh charges and the fixed charge.
Good to know
Reading an electric bill: energy charges and the fixed charge
An electric bill has two kinds of charges, and a rate increase can change either or both. The first kind is priced per kilowatt-hour. Depending on where you live it may appear as a single line or as several: a supply or generation charge for the electricity itself, a delivery or distribution charge for moving it to your home, and riders or adjustments that pass through fuel costs, programs and taxes. For this page, add every per-kWh charge together, because the price that matters is the whole cost of one more kilowatt-hour. The second kind is a fixed monthly charge, often called a customer charge or basic service charge, billed whatever you use. It covers the meter, billing and the connection to the grid. In the example a home uses 900 kWh a month. Before the increase it pays 16.80 cents per kWh and a $12 fixed charge, so its energy charge is $151.20 and its bill $163.20. After the increase the price is 18.60 cents and the fixed charge $15, giving an energy charge of $167.40 and a bill of $182.40. The difference is $19.20 a month, or $230 a year. One number on this page is worth watching because bills rarely print it: the all-in price per kWh, the whole bill divided by the kWh used. For the example home it rises from 18.13 to 20.27 cents, an 11.8% increase, which is larger than the 10.7% increase in the per-kWh price because the fixed charge rose as well. The all-in price is the fairest way to compare your costs with a national average or with another home, since it counts everything you pay. If your utility's notice lists a proposed and an approved rate, use the approved one, and if rates change by season, repeat the calculation with summer and winter figures.
Why the fixed charge and the price per kWh hit households differently
The two parts of a rate increase land very differently depending on how much electricity a household uses. The per-kWh part scales with usage: a home that uses twice as much pays twice as much of it. The fixed part does not scale at all. In the example, the price per kWh rises 1.80 cents and the fixed charge rises $3.00. For the example home at 900 kWh a month, the per-kWh part adds $16.20 and the fixed part $3.00, so the fixed charge is 16% of the increase. Now apply the same new rates to a small apartment using 100 kWh a month. The per-kWh part adds only $1.80, while the fixed part still adds $3.00, so the fixed charge becomes about 63% of that household's increase. At 2,000 kWh a month the per-kWh part adds $36.00 and the fixed charge is about 8% of the increase. This matters for two reasons. The first is fairness and budgeting: a fixed-charge increase weighs heaviest, as a share of the bill, on small users, who are often people living alone or in apartments. The second is what you can do about it. Using less electricity reduces the per-kWh part and does nothing to the fixed part. A rate increase built mostly on the fixed charge leaves little room for savings through conservation, while one built mostly on the per-kWh price rewards every kilowatt-hour you avoid. Utilities and regulators set the balance between the two in rate cases, and notices of proposed increases usually show both. When a proposed increase is open for public comment, the split between fixed and per-kWh charges is often the part of the proposal that affects a household's bill most. The donut on this page shows the split for your own bill so you can see which kind of increase you are facing.
What it takes to offset a rate increase with less usage
The page answers a question people often ask when a rate notice arrives: how much would I have to cut back to keep my bill where it was? The answer is the usage at which the new prices add up to the old bill. In the example that is 797 kWh a month instead of 900, a cut of 103 kWh, or 11.5% of the home's usage. The formula is simple: take the old bill, subtract the new fixed charge, and divide by the new price per kWh. If the new fixed charge alone is at or above the old bill, the answer is that no cut can do it, and the page says so rather than printing a negative number. Whether an 11.5% cut is realistic depends on where a home's electricity goes. In many homes heating, cooling and water heating are among the largest loads, so a change of a few degrees on the thermostat, servicing an air conditioner or heat pump, or lowering a water heater's temperature can move usage more than switching off lights. It also means the achievable cut varies by season: a home that uses much more in July than in April has more room to save in summer. Look at the usage history on your bill, if it shows one, to see how your months compare. The cut is also the upper end of what conservation needs to deliver. Any efficiency change that lasts, such as better insulation or a more efficient appliance, reduces usage every month from then on, while behavioral changes tend to fade. If the required cut is not realistic, the honest answer is that the increase is a budget line, $230 a year in the example, and the zero-based budget page is where that money gets found.
National prices, the seasons and the end of federal energy credits
It helps to know how your utility's prices compare with the rest of the country. The Energy Information Administration's Electric Power Monthly, released August 26, 2026, put the average US residential price at 18.34 cents per kWh in June 2026, up 5.0% from 17.47 cents in June 2025. The electricity index in the consumer price index, a separate measure, rose 3.8% over the 12 months to August 2026. The example's new price of 18.60 cents is about 1% above that national average. Averages hide wide differences, though. Prices vary a great deal by state and by utility, and monthly averages move with the seasons. Usage varies too: the Energy Information Administration reports that the average residential customer bought 10,791 kWh in 2022, about 899 kWh a month, from 14,774 kWh a year per customer in Louisiana to 6,178 kWh in Hawaii. A household in a hot climate with central air conditioning will feel a per-kWh increase far more than one in a mild climate with gas heat. One thing that changed recently is the federal help available for cutting usage. The IRS energy efficient home improvement credit, which covered 30% of qualifying improvements such as exterior windows, doors and heat pumps within yearly limits, applied to improvements made through December 31, 2025. The residential clean energy credit, which covered 30% of clean energy property such as solar panels, is not available for property placed in service after December 31, 2025. This page therefore carries no credit. An efficiency project has to justify itself on its own savings: at the example's new price, each 100 kWh a month you avoid is worth $223 a year, which gives you a quick way to judge what an upgrade is worth before you get a quote.
Frequently asked questions
How much will a rate increase add to my electric bill?
Multiply your monthly usage by the change in the price per kWh, add the change in the fixed charge, and multiply by 12. In the example a home using 900 kWh a month sees its price rise from 16.80 to 18.60 cents and its fixed charge from $12 to $15. The bill goes from $163.20 to $182.40 a month, $19.20 more, which is $230 a year and an 11.8% increase on the whole bill.
How much electricity would I have to save to offset the increase?
Enough that the new prices on your lower usage add up to the old bill. In the example that is 797 kWh a month instead of 900, a cut of 103 kWh, or 11.5% of what the home uses. The fixed charge sets a limit: if the new fixed charge alone reaches your old bill, no cut in usage can hold the bill flat.
Why does the fixed customer charge matter so much?
Because using less cannot touch it. In the example the fixed charge rises $3.00 a month, 16% of the $19.20 increase, and that $36 a year arrives whether the home uses 100 kWh or 2,000. Counting the fixed charge, the example's all-in price per kWh rises from 18.13 to 20.27 cents, faster than the 10.7% rise in the price per kWh itself.
What is the average price of electricity in the US?
The Energy Information Administration's Electric Power Monthly put the average residential price at 18.34 cents per kWh in June 2026, up 5.0% from 17.47 cents in June 2025. The electricity index in the consumer price index rose 3.8% over the 12 months to August 2026. Prices vary widely by state and by season, so your own utility's rates are the ones to use.
How much electricity does a typical home use?
The Energy Information Administration reports that the average US residential customer bought 10,791 kWh in 2022, about 899 kWh a month, ranging from 14,774 kWh a year in Louisiana to 6,178 kWh in Hawaii. Homes with electric heat, central air conditioning or an electric car use far more, which is why the page asks for your own usage.
Is there a federal tax credit for efficiency or solar to offset higher rates?
Not for anything installed now. The IRS energy efficient home improvement credit covered improvements made through December 31, 2025, and the residential clean energy credit is not available for property placed in service after that date. An efficiency project has to pay for itself on the bill: at 18.60 cents, each 100 kWh a month you avoid is worth $223 a year.
Does this work for tiered or time-of-use rates?
Approximately. The page uses one average price per kWh. On a tiered or time-of-use plan, divide your total per-kWh charges by your kWh to get an average price, before and after, and enter those. The cut that holds the bill flat will differ somewhat in practice, because the kWh you save may be priced above or below your average.