Average Electric Bill in Montana
Residential · 12-month average, June 2025 – May 2026.
That works out to about $1,359 a year. Among the 50 states and DC, Montana has the 47th highest average residential bill.
What makes up the bill
Price × usage = bill, exactly: 13.75¢/kWh × 824 kWh ≈ $113. A state can land high on either factor — Montana is below the U.S. average on both.
Compared with nearby states
| Montana | $113 | |
|---|---|---|
| U.S. average | $155 | |
| South Dakota | $138 | |
| North Dakota | $130 | |
| Wyoming | $114 | |
| Idaho | $111 |
Montana is $42 a month below (-27.2%) the U.S. average of $155. 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
- $141
- January 2026
- Lowest month
- $95
- October 2025
- Swing
- $47
- peak minus low
- Latest month
- $102
- May 2026
Actual bills are far from flat: Montana peaks in January 2026 and bottoms out in October 2025. The headline figure above is the average across all twelve months.
Montana electricity bills in context
Montana's average monthly residential electricity bill is $113, ranking 47th among the 50 states and DC — roughly in the middle, but well below the national average of $155. The state pays 13.75¢/kWh, which is 4.09¢ lower than the national rate of 17.84¢/kWh. Homes use 824 kWh per month on average, 47 kWh less than the national average of 871 kWh. The low price per kilowatt-hour pulls the bill down sharply; the below-average usage provides a smaller additional benefit.
Over the past year, from June 2025 to May 2026, the bill rose 5.8% from $107 to $113. Over the longer span since May 2021 it has climbed 16.8%, from $97. Since December 2008 the increase is more pronounced: 47.1%, from $77. These gains show a consistent upward trend across all three time horizons.
Bills vary seasonally by $46 between the low and the high. January 2026 saw the peak at $141, while October 2025 brought the lowest at $95; the twelve-month average of $113 falls between them. Among neighbouring states, Montana's bill is lower than South Dakota at $138 and North Dakota at $130, but slightly higher than Wyoming at $114 and Idaho at $111.
Written from the EIA figures on this page, covering data through May 2026.
Frequently asked questions
›How much is the average electric bill in Montana?
›Is the electric bill in Montana higher than the national average?
›Why is not electricity expensive in Montana?
›When is the electric bill highest in Montana?
›How does Montana 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 (June 2025 – May 2026)
Two caveats worth knowing. It is an average, so it blends apartments with large houses — a typical household in Montana may pay well above or below $113. 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 Montana electricity prices by sector.