Average Electric Bill in Washington
Residential · 12-month average, September 2025 – August 2026.
That works out to about $1,583 a year. Among the 50 states and DC, Washington has the 39th 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: 14.19¢/kWh × 930 kWh ≈ $132. A state can land high on either factor — Washington pays below the national rate but uses much more power than average.
Compared with nearby states
| Washington | $132 | |
|---|---|---|
| U.S. average | $158 | |
| Oregon | $131 | |
| Idaho | $116 |
Washington is $26 a month below (-16.7%) 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
- $175
- January 2026
- Lowest month
- $103
- September 2025
- Swing
- $73
- peak minus low
- Latest month
- $120
- August 2026
Actual bills are far from flat: Washington peaks in January 2026 and bottoms out in September 2025. The headline figure above is the average across all twelve months.
Washington electricity bills in context
The average monthly electricity bill in Washington from September 2025 to August 2026 was $132, ranking 39th of the 50 states and DC when counting down from the most expensive. This bill sits $26 below the national average of $158. The difference stems from two sources working in opposite directions: Washington's rate of 14.19¢/kWh runs 3.88¢/kWh lower than the national average of 18.07¢/kWh, but homes here use more electricity, averaging 930 kWh per month against the national 876 kWh per month.
Over the past year, Washington's average bill grew 8.7%, rising from $121 in the prior twelve-month period. Over the longer run, the climb has been steeper: the bill stood at $99 in August 2021 and at $82 in December 2008, representing increases of 33.4% and 61.1% respectively. Seasonally, bills ranged from a low of $103 in September 2025 to a peak of $175 in January 2026, a swing of $72 around the twelve-month average.
Among neighbouring states, Oregon's average bill was $131, just below Washington's, while Idaho's was $116, materially lower.
Written from the EIA figures on this page, covering data through August 2026.
Frequently asked questions
›How much is the average electric bill in Washington?
›Is the electric bill in Washington higher than the national average?
›Why is electricity relatively cheap in Washington?
›When is the electric bill highest in Washington?
›How does Washington 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 Washington may pay well above or below $132. 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 Washington electricity prices by sector.