Data sources & methodology
Everything on this site is computed from public government and research datasets. We don't take money from providers to change rankings, and all the math is shown here.
Last data refresh: 2026-10-21. EIA monthly data through July 2026; EIA annual data year 2025; Texas plans as of 2026-10-21.
Downloads
- utilities.csv: every utility's rate, customers, average bill, reliability and smart-meter share.
- states.csv: state averages, trends, bills, rank and retail-choice status.
Free to use with attribution (CC BY 4.0): “Source: CutYourElectric.com, from EIA data.”
Electricity rates
What “rate” means here. Unless a page says otherwise, a rate is the average all-in residential price: total residential revenue divided by kWh sold. That includes customer charges, delivery, fuel adjustments and riders. It's what households actually paid per kWh, which is the fairest way to compare companies, and it matches your bill total divided by your kWh.
How we keep it current.
- For about 350 of the largest utilities, which serve most U.S. homes, we use EIA-861M monthly data and sum revenue and sales over the latest 12 months (2025-08 to 2026-07).
- For other utilities we take EIA-861 annual data (2025) and scale it by the change in their state's average price between 2025 and the latest 12 months.
- For delivery-only utilities in deregulated states, we add the delivery price to the state's average competitive supply price. In Texas we use the median current Power to Choose plan price at 1,000 kWh in that utility's area. Those prices include delivery charges.
- For retail providers, the rate is their residential supply revenue per kWh. Outside Texas, “all-in” adds the state's average delivery price.
Rate plans (tariffs) come from the OpenEI U.S. Utility Rate Database. Tariffs cover base energy and customer charges, including tiers and time-of-use periods. They often leave out riders, fuel adjustments and taxes, so tariff-based bills usually run below real bills. Dates are shown, so check the linked tariff for changes.
State and national averages come from EIA-861M monthly state data. The national residential average for the last 12 months is 17.99¢/kWh.
Appliance costs
Cost = energy (kWh) × rate. Energy is calculated in one of four ways, depending on the device:
- Watts × hours: running watts × hours per day × duty cycle (the share of time a thermostat- or compressor-controlled device actually draws power), plus standby watts for the rest of the day, × days per week.
- Per use: kWh per load, cycle or use × uses per week. Used for dryers, dishwashers and ovens.
- Annual kWh: the EnergyGuide or ENERGY STAR test figure. Used for fridges, freezers and water heaters.
- Per mile: kWh per mile at the wall (charging losses included) × miles. Used for EVs.
Seasonal devices count only the months they're used. Defaults are typical U.S. values checked against DOE, ENERGY STAR, EIA RECS and manufacturer specifications. Every default can be changed. Months are 30.44 days and years are 365.25.
Model lookups use ENERGY STAR certified product data (data.energystar.gov), updated with each refresh.
Time-of-use pricing: when you pick a TOU plan, each device's cost uses the average price over the hours it runs, weighted 5:2 for weekdays and weekends and across the months it's used. For tiered plans we use the marginal tier for your household's monthly use.
Reliability & outages
SAIDI is the average minutes without power per customer per year. SAIFI is the average number of sustained interruptions. CAIDI is the average restoration time. All come from utilities' EIA-861 reliability filings, using IEEE 1366 figures when reported. “With major events” includes big storms. State and U.S. averages are weighted by customers.
County outage history comes from ORNL EAGLE-I, which records customers without power in every county every 15 minutes. Outage minutes per customer = Σ(customers out × 15 min) ÷ modeled county customers. “Days with outages” counts days when at least 0.5% of customers (minimum 50) were out at once. EAGLE-I counts every utility in a county.
Live outages are loaded in your browser from ORNL's Outage Data Initiative Nationwide (ODIN) real-time county feed. Only participating utilities report to ODIN, so “no outages reported” doesn't guarantee there are none.
Other sources
- ZIP → utility: NREL “U.S. Electric Utility Companies and Rates: Look-up by Zip Code (2024),” with gaps filled from EIA-861 service territories.
- Places and ZIP coordinates: GeoNames (CC BY 4.0). Maps: U.S. Census boundaries via us-atlas.
- Texas plans: Public Utility Commission of Texas, Power to Choose export.
- Fuel prices: EIA natural gas (12-month average residential), weekly gasoline, propane and heating oil.
- Solar production: NREL PVWatts v8, 1 kW fixed array, 20° tilt, south-facing, 14% losses, at each state's largest city.
Corrections
Utilities restructure, merge and change rates. If a number looks wrong, tell us at hello@cutyourelectric.com with a link to the source, and we'll fix it in the next refresh.