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Housenergy Calculator

Electricity Costs

What your appliances, your bill and your kilowatt-hours really cost.

How electricity cost is calculated

Electricity is sold by the kilowatt-hour (kWh). One kWh is the energy used by a 1,000 watt appliance running for one hour. To find what something costs, convert its watts to kilowatts, multiply by the hours it runs, and multiply the result by your price per kWh.

The price per kWh is not the same everywhere or on every bill. It depends on your state and utility, and some utilities change it with the amount you use or the time of day. The calculators here start from the U.S. Energy Information Administration state averages and let you replace them with the rate on your own bill.

See how we handle data and formulas on the methodology and sources page.