Average Electric Bill in Alabama
Residential · 12-month average, September 2025 – August 2026.
That works out to about $2,252 a year. Among the 50 states and DC, Alabama has the 4th highest average residential bill.
Data current through August 2026 — the latest available from the U.S. EIA, which publishes monthly figures on a roughly two-month delay.
What makes up the bill
Price × usage = bill, exactly: 16.45¢/kWh × 1,141 kWh ≈ $188. A state can land high on either factor — Alabama pays below the national rate but uses much more power than average.
Compared with nearby states
| Alabama | $188 | |
|---|---|---|
| U.S. average | $158 | |
| Mississippi | $174 | |
| Florida | $169 | |
| Georgia | $164 | |
| Tennessee | $163 |
Alabama is $29 a month above (+18.5%) the U.S. average of $158. Neighboring states share fuel mixes, weather, and often a grid operator, which makes them a closer benchmark than the national average.
Trend since 2008
Each point is a trailing 12-month average, which strips out the summer/winter swing and leaves the underlying trend. Bills start in January 2008 because that is when EIA began reporting customer counts.
Seasonal swing
- Highest month
- $254
- August 2026
- Lowest month
- $144
- November 2025
- Swing
- $110
- peak minus low
- Latest month
- $254
- August 2026
Actual bills are far from flat: Alabama peaks in August 2026 and bottoms out in November 2025. The headline figure above is the average across all twelve months.
Alabama electricity bills in context
Alabama's average monthly electricity bill is $188, the fourth-highest among the 50 states and DC. This bill reflects two offsetting forces: the state's price of 16.45¢/kWh runs below the national average of 18.07¢/kWh, but homes use 1,141 kWh per month against a national average of 876 kWh per month. The higher usage pulls the bill up by $30, or 18.5%, above the national figure of $158.
Over the past year, the bill rose 3.4% from $182. Over five years, it has climbed 25.5% since August 2021, when it stood at $149. The longer view shows even steeper growth: since December 2008, the bill has increased 42% from $132. Neighboring states all pay less—Mississippi averages $174, Florida $169, Georgia $164, and Tennessee $163.
Seasonal swings are substantial. August 2026 brought the peak at $254, while November 2025 saw the lowest at $144, a difference of $110. The twelve-month average of $188 sits between these extremes.
Written from the EIA figures on this page, covering data through August 2026.
Frequently asked questions
›How much is the average electric bill in Alabama?
›Is the electric bill in Alabama higher than the national average?
›Why is electricity relatively cheap in Alabama?
›When is the electric bill highest in Alabama?
›How does Alabama compare with neighboring states?
How this is calculated
EIA’s retail-sales dataset reports, for every state and month, total residential revenue and the number of residential customers served. The average monthly bill is simply the first divided by the second — total spending across all households, spread evenly over all accounts.
bill = revenue ÷ customers · averaged over 12 months (September 2025 – August 2026)
Two caveats worth knowing. It is an average, so it blends apartments with large houses — a typical household in Alabama may pay well above or below $188. And it counts what was actually billed for electricity, including fixed service charges, so it is not the same as multiplying your own usage by the advertised rate.
Looking for the rate rather than the bill? See Alabama electricity prices by sector.