Average Electric Bill in West Virginia
Residential · 12-month average, September 2025 – August 2026.
That works out to about $1,968 a year. Among the 50 states and DC, West Virginia has the 17th 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: 15.54¢/kWh × 1,056 kWh ≈ $164. A state can land high on either factor — West Virginia pays below the national rate but uses much more power than average.
Compared with nearby states
| West Virginia | $164 | |
|---|---|---|
| U.S. average | $158 | |
| Maryland | $212 | |
| Virginia | $177 | |
| Pennsylvania | $175 | |
| Ohio | $160 | |
| Kentucky | $155 |
West Virginia is $6 a month above (+3.6%) 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
- $240
- January 2026
- Lowest month
- $108
- April 2026
- Swing
- $132
- peak minus low
- Latest month
- $174
- August 2026
Actual bills are far from flat: West Virginia peaks in January 2026 and bottoms out in April 2026. The headline figure above is the average across all twelve months.
West Virginia electricity bills in context
West Virginia's average monthly electricity bill for the twelve months from September 2025 to August 2026 was $164, placing it 17th among the most expensive in the 50 states and DC. This exceeds the national average of $158 by $6, or 3.6%. The difference stems from two factors working in opposite directions: West Virginia's price of 15.54¢/kWh is 2.53¢ below the national rate of 18.07¢/kWh, but its homes consume 1,056 kWh per month against the national average of 876 kWh, a difference of 180 kWh that drives the bill higher.
Over the past year, the bill rose from $163 to $164, a gain of 0.5%. The longer view shows sharper growth: since August 2021 the bill has climbed 27.9% from $128, and since December 2008 it has more than doubled, rising 104.6% from $80. Among bordering states, West Virginia's bill exceeds Ohio at $160 and Kentucky at $155, but falls below Virginia at $177 and Maryland at $212.
Seasonally, the bill peaks in January 2026 at $240 and reaches its low in April 2026 at $108, a swing of $132 around the twelve-month average of $164. Winter demand drives costs sharply upward, while spring moderates them substantially.
Written from the EIA figures on this page, covering data through August 2026.
Frequently asked questions
›How much is the average electric bill in West Virginia?
›Is the electric bill in West Virginia higher than the national average?
›Why is electricity relatively cheap in West Virginia?
›When is the electric bill highest in West Virginia?
›How does West Virginia 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 West Virginia may pay well above or below $164. 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 West Virginia electricity prices by sector.