Electricity rates in North Carolina

Average rate: 14.74¢
A year ago: 13.38¢
vs US average: -20%
Rank: 41 / 51

Every figure below is that rate applied to the same appliance models used across this site. The rate is the only thing that changes between states — a refrigerator in North Carolina draws exactly what it draws in Nevada, it just costs 1.1× as much to run.

What a typical bill looks like in North Carolina

North Carolina sits in the South Atlantic census division, where the EIA’s Residential Energy Consumption Survey puts average household electricity at 13,089 kilowatt-hours a year — 24% above the national figure of 10,566 kWh. At 14.74¢ that is $1,929 a year, or $161 a month before fixed charges and taxes.

Typical annual bill in North Carolina

$1,929a year

$161 a month · 13,089 kWh, the South Atlantic average

Using the national average instead would put this at $1,557 — 19% lower. Region is the second-biggest variable after the rate itself.

Where the electricity goes in the South Atlantic

The South Atlantic is balanced between heating and cooling — 2,401 kWh against 3,112 kWh. These are conditional averages — each is the mean among households in the division that actually use electricity for that purpose, so they describe a home that has the thing, not a blend across homes that do not.

EIA RECS 2020, table CE4.6, South Atlantic division, priced at North Carolina’s 14.74¢/kWh. The parts do not sum to the total because each is conditioned on different households.

End use	South Atlantic	National	Difference	Cost in North Carolina
Air conditioning	3,112 kWh	2,318 kWh	+34%	$459
Water heating	2,767 kWh	2,706 kWh	+2%	$408
Space heating	2,401 kWh	2,484 kWh	-3%	$354
Refrigeration	886 kWh	839 kWh	+6%	$131
Everything else	5,617 kWh	5,108 kWh	+10%	$828

What North Carolina households pay against everyone else

The same grid sells to households, businesses and factories at different prices, because delivery costs are spread over very different volumes. In North Carolina a household pays 14.74¢ while industry pays 7.87¢ — 1.9× as much per kilowatt-hour. That ratio is not a scandal; it is the cost of running low-voltage distribution to individual houses rather than a single high-voltage feed to one plant. But it is the reason a household’s cost-saving arithmetic never looks like a business’s.

Average price by end-use sector, North Carolina. EIA Electric Power Monthly table 5.6.A. A dash means the EIA published no figure for that sector.

Sector	June 2026	June 2025	Change
Residential — your bill	14.74¢	13.38¢	+10.2%
Commercial	10.51¢	9.8¢	+7.2%
Industrial	7.87¢	7.77¢	+1.3%
All sectors	11.98¢	11.12¢	+7.7%

One month is weather. The year is your bill.

The June 2026 figure above is a single month. Across 2026 so far, North Carolina residential customers have averaged 14.9¢ — 1.1% above that single month.

That is a small gap, so North Carolina prices are fairly flat through the year and either figure will do for planning.

North Carolina, year to date

14.9¢per kWh

Against 14.74¢ in June 2026 alone · 13.78¢ over the same period last year

An annual bill reflects the year-to-date figure far more closely than any single month. Use it in the calculators if you are planning a year ahead.

What each appliance costs in North Carolina

Every appliance on this site, priced at North Carolina’s 14.74¢. Each figure uses the appliance’s real duty cycle — the share of its running time it actually draws power — so a refrigerator here is 420 kWh a year rather than the 1,314 kWh that nameplate arithmetic produces.

All 120 appliances at North Carolina’s average residential rate of 14.74¢/kWh, on this site’s standard usage assumptions. “Real average” is the draw averaged over the hours the appliance is in service.

Appliance	Rated	Real average	Electricity	A month	A year
Crypto mining rig	3,000 W	3,000 W	26,280 kWh	$323	$3,874
Electric furnace	15,000 W	3,755 W	9,012 kWh	$111	$1,328
EV charging (Level 1 wall socket)	1,400 W	1,403 W	3,747 kWh	$46	$552
EV charging (Level 2 home)	7,200 W	7,241 W	3,541 kWh	$43	$522
Hot tub	1,500 W	375 W	3,285 kWh	$40	$484
Pool heat pump	5,000 W	3,270 W	3,139 kWh	$39	$463
Electric water heater	4,500 W	311 W	2,720 kWh	$33	$401
Heat pump (heating)	1,800 W	999 W	2,307 kWh	$28	$340
Central air conditioner	3,500 W	2,125 W	2,295 kWh	$28	$338
Pool pump	1,500 W	1,500 W	2,160 kWh	$27	$318
Oxygen concentrator	350 W	350 W	2,044 kWh	$25	$301
Grow light	300 W	301 W	1,755 kWh	$22	$259
Standalone ice maker	350 W	158 W	1,380 kWh	$17	$203
Koi pond pump	150 W	150 W	1,314 kWh	$16	$194
Wine cellar cooling unit	450 W	149 W	1,301 kWh	$16	$192
Dehumidifier	480 W	288 W	1,244 kWh	$15	$183
Electric baseboard heater	1,000 W	400 W	1,188 kWh	$15	$175
Heated towel rail	120 W	120 W	1,051 kWh	$13	$155
Pottery kiln	8,000 W	4,800 W	1,037 kWh	$13	$153
Furnace blower / air handler	500 W	516 W	1,032 kWh	$13	$152
Space heater	1,500 W	827 W	992 kWh	$12	$146
Heat pump water heater	550 W	110 W	964 kWh	$12	$142
Waterbed heater	300 W	105 W	920 kWh	$11	$136
Oil-filled radiator	1,500 W	675 W	810 kWh	$9.95	$119
Portable air conditioner	1,100 W	771 W	771 kWh	$9.48	$114
Infrared heater	1,500 W	903 W	759 kWh	$9.32	$112
Golf cart charger	950 W	969 W	727 kWh	$8.93	$107
Garage refrigerator	180 W	81 W	710 kWh	$8.72	$105
Electric clothes dryer	3,000 W	2,273 W	682 kWh	$8.38	$101
Electric underfloor heating	1,200 W	423 W	676 kWh	$8.31	$100
Septic aerator pump	70 W	70 W	613 kWh	$7.53	$90
Gaming PC	400 W	415 W	606 kWh	$7.44	$89
Engine block heater	600 W	600 W	600 kWh	$7.37	$88
Window air conditioner	900 W	541 W	596 kWh	$7.32	$88
Mini split (cooling)	900 W	461 W	553 kWh	$6.80	$82
Electric fireplace	1,500 W	758 W	530 kWh	$6.51	$78
Home server or NAS	60 W	60 W	526 kWh	$6.46	$77
Radon mitigation fan	60 W	60 W	526 kWh	$6.46	$77
Electric sauna heater	6,000 W	3,330 W	500 kWh	$6.14	$74
Aquarium	150 W	53 W	460 kWh	$5.65	$68
Evaporative cooler	500 W	500 W	450 kWh	$5.53	$66
Well pump	1,000 W	1,000 W	438 kWh	$5.38	$65
Refrigerator	150 W	48 W	420 kWh	$5.16	$62
Heat pump clothes dryer	900 W	824 W	396 kWh	$4.86	$58
Hot water recirculation pump	45 W	45 W	394 kWh	$4.84	$58
Air purifier	45 W	45 W	394 kWh	$4.84	$58
Kegerator	95 W	40 W	350 kWh	$4.29	$52
Chest freezer	130 W	39 W	342 kWh	$4.20	$50
Electric oven	3,000 W	1,119 W	336 kWh	$4.12	$49
Water cooler / dispenser	100 W	35 W	307 kWh	$3.77	$45
Wine fridge	85 W	34 W	298 kWh	$3.66	$44
Reptile heat lamp	100 W	65 W	285 kWh	$3.50	$42
Mini fridge	75 W	30 W	263 kWh	$3.23	$39
Dishwasher	1,200 W	407 W	244 kWh	$3.00	$36
Pool salt chlorinator	160 W	166 W	239 kWh	$2.94	$35
Electric cooktop	2,000 W	931 W	230 kWh	$2.83	$34
UPS battery backup	25 W	25 W	219 kWh	$2.69	$32
Espresso machine	1,300 W	293 W	214 kWh	$2.63	$32
Games console	180 W	194 W	212 kWh	$2.61	$31
Desktop computer	100 W	104 W	208 kWh	$2.55	$31
OLED television	110 W	114 W	208 kWh	$2.55	$31
LED television	90 W	94 W	171 kWh	$2.10	$25
AV receiver	130 W	151 W	165 kWh	$2.03	$24
Whole house fan	400 W	400 W	160 kWh	$1.97	$24
Projector	280 W	289 W	144 kWh	$1.77	$21
Toaster oven	1,400 W	957 W	144 kWh	$1.76	$21
Microwave oven	1,200 W	1,485 W	136 kWh	$1.66	$20
Treadmill	700 W	855 W	128 kWh	$1.58	$19
CPAP machine	45 W	50 W	127 kWh	$1.56	$19
Laptop	50 W	52 W	125 kWh	$1.53	$18
Garden fountain pump	45 W	45 W	113 kWh	$1.39	$17
Incandescent bulb	60 W	60 W	110 kWh	$1.35	$16
Wi-Fi router and modem	12 W	12 W	105 kWh	$1.29	$15
Coffee maker	1,000 W	958 W	105 kWh	$1.29	$15
Tanning bed	4,500 W	5,095 W	102 kWh	$1.25	$15
Hair dryer	1,600 W	1,600 W	99 kWh	$1.22	$15
Food dehydrator	550 W	330 W	99 kWh	$1.22	$15
Washing machine	500 W	323 W	97 kWh	$1.19	$14
Air fryer	1,500 W	959 W	96 kWh	$1.18	$14
Welder	5,000 W	1,165 W	93 kWh	$1.14	$14
Sump pump	800 W	894 W	89 kWh	$1.10	$13
Air compressor	1,900 W	475 W	86 kWh	$1.05	$13
Electric kettle	1,500 W	1,500 W	82 kWh	$1.01	$12
E-scooter charger	90 W	93 W	74 kWh	$0.91	$11
E-bike charger	110 W	113 W	68 kWh	$0.83	$9.95
Box or pedestal fan	55 W	55 W	66 kWh	$0.81	$9.73
Central vacuum system	1,500 W	1,618 W	65 kWh	$0.79	$9.54
3D printer	120 W	69 W	62 kWh	$0.76	$9.15
Computer monitor	30 W	31 W	62 kWh	$0.76	$9.14
Slow cooker	200 W	120 W	58 kWh	$0.71	$8.49
Range hood	150 W	173 W	57 kWh	$0.70	$8.42
Rice cooker	650 W	283 W	57 kWh	$0.70	$8.34
Electric smoker	800 W	402 W	56 kWh	$0.69	$8.30
Humidifier	40 W	24 W	55 kWh	$0.67	$8.09
Robotic pool cleaner	180 W	197 W	54 kWh	$0.67	$7.99
Laser printer	600 W	1,794 W	54 kWh	$0.66	$7.93
Ceiling fan	35 W	37 W	53 kWh	$0.65	$7.85
Bread maker	550 W	171 W	48 kWh	$0.59	$7.05
Table saw	1,800 W	450 W	45 kWh	$0.55	$6.63
Security camera	5 W	5 W	44 kWh	$0.54	$6.46
Electric pressure cooker	1,000 W	381 W	43 kWh	$0.53	$6.32
Electric blanket	100 W	35 W	42 kWh	$0.52	$6.19
Egg incubator	60 W	27 W	41 kWh	$0.50	$6.02
Garage door opener	550 W	5,346 W	39 kWh	$0.48	$5.75
Massage chair	200 W	388 W	39 kWh	$0.48	$5.72
Battery trickle charger	25 W	9 W	38 kWh	$0.46	$5.57
Irrigation controller	4 W	4 W	35 kWh	$0.43	$5.16
Robot vacuum	40 W	97 W	35 kWh	$0.43	$5.15
Water softener	40 W	157 W	34 kWh	$0.42	$5.07
Sous vide circulator	900 W	140 W	34 kWh	$0.41	$4.95
Vacuum cleaner	900 W	900 W	27 kWh	$0.33	$3.98
Electric lawn mower	1,400 W	1,190 W	25 kWh	$0.31	$3.68
Clothes iron	1,300 W	520 W	21 kWh	$0.26	$3.07
Electric snow blower	1,800 W	1,620 W	19 kWh	$0.24	$2.87
Bathroom exhaust fan	35 W	35 W	19 kWh	$0.24	$2.82
Pressure washer	1,700 W	1,190 W	18 kWh	$0.22	$2.63
LED light bulb	9 W	9 W	16 kWh	$0.20	$2.42
Electric leaf blower	1,100 W	1,100 W	14 kWh	$0.17	$2.03
Garbage disposal	600 W	600 W	11 kWh	$0.13	$1.61
Hair straightener	150 W	75 W	5.6 kWh	$0.07	$0.83

How that compares

North Carolina against the national average and the extremes of the range.

Hawaii — most expensive52.72¢

North Carolina14.74¢

US average18.34¢

Nevada — cheapest13.11¢

Questions

What is the average electricity rate in North Carolina?

14.74 cents per kilowatt-hour for residential customers in June 2026, according to the EIA’s Electric Power Monthly. That is 20% below the national average of 18.34¢, and ranks 41 out of 51 for price.

What is a typical electricity bill in North Carolina?

A household using the US average of 13,089 kWh a year would pay about $1,929 a year, or $161 a month, at North Carolina’s average rate. Actual usage varies far more than rates do — an all-electric home with electric heat can use two to three times that.

Have electricity rates in North Carolina gone up?

North Carolina residential rates are up 10.2% against the same month a year earlier, from 13.38¢ to 14.74¢. The national average moved up 5.0% over the same period.

Why is my rate different from this number?

This is a statewide average across every residential customer and every utility, including fixed monthly charges spread over the kilowatt-hours sold. Your own effective rate depends on your utility, your tariff and whether you are on time-of-use pricing. Divide the total amount on your bill by the kilowatt-hours it lists to get the figure that actually applies to you — that is the number to type into the calculators here.

Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration, Electric Power Monthly, Table 5.6.A, June 2026. U.S. Government work, public domain.

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