State electricity profile · 2024

Delaware Electricity

Delaware residential power costs 16.57¢/kWh, 0.5% above the US average. Scroll down for commercial, industrial, and generation-mix figures, sourced from EIA filings.

16.57¢/kWh
Residential rate
+0.5%
vs US average
8%
Renewable
473.5K
Customers

The verdict · 2024

Delaware's residential electricity runs 16.57¢/kWh - 0.5% above the 16.48¢/kWh national average, pricier than 69% of states, with 8% of its power from renewables.

Rate is the EIA state average across all 473.5K residential customers, a benchmark for comparing states, not the rate on any single bill. Source: EIA Form-861.

What Delaware's Electricity Data Tells Us

Households in Delaware are billed 16.57¢/kWh on average for residential power, per 2024 EIA data, covering 473.5K metered households in the state, running 0.5% ahead of the national residential average of 16.48¢/kWh. Commercial customers pay 12.20¢/kWh, and industrial customers are billed 8.49¢/kWh, reflecting the cost differentials that come from voltage level, load factor, and contract length across EIA Form-861 survey respondents. Residential customers consumed 5.2M MWh over the year, translating to roughly $857.3M in revenue for utilities, a useful yardstick for sizing local demand against the grid mix that serves it.

No fuel source matters more to Delaware's grid than natural gas, at 88.7% of in-state production, followed by solar at 7.8%, while coal adds another 3.0%. Tally solar, wind, hydro, geothermal, and biomass together and renewables reach 7.8% of Delaware's generation, a figure that matters because each renewable megawatt-hour displaces fuel costs that otherwise flow through to retail bills. Legacy fuels still dominate here, which tends to tie retail rates to commodity cycles.

Looking back across EIA records, residential prices in Delaware moved from 13.42¢/kWh in 2016 to 16.57¢/kWh in 2024, a 23.5% shift over that window. Ohio, Wisconsin, Illinois price out at a comparable level, a handy peer set for cross-checking. For anyone negotiating a supplier contract, weighing an energy-efficiency upgrade, or modeling a household budget, the combination of current rate, multi-year trend, and generation mix offers a sturdier footing than any single data point on its own.

+0.5%

vs the US residential average

31%

of states have higher residential rates

8%

renewable share, below the US mix

473.5K

residential customers served

How Delaware compares

Residential
Delaware 16.57¢
US average 16.48¢
+1% vs benchmark
Commercial
Delaware 12.20¢
US average 12.75¢
-4% vs benchmark
Industrial
Delaware 8.49¢
US average 8.13¢
+4% vs benchmark

Cents per kWh, EIA Form 861. Pick a benchmark above to compare Delaware against the US average or a peer state.

Residential Price History

Year Price Change
2024 16.57¢/kWh +5.3%
2023 15.73¢/kWh +14.7%
2022 13.71¢/kWh +9.5%
2021 12.52¢/kWh -0.3%
2020 12.56¢/kWh +0.1%
2019 12.55¢/kWh +0.2%
2018 12.53¢/kWh -6.1%
2017 13.35¢/kWh -0.5%
2016 13.42¢/kWh -

Energy Generation Mix

How Delaware generates its electricity. Renewable sources account for 7.8% of generation.

  • Natural Gas88.7%
  • Solarrenewable7.8%
  • Coal3.0%
  • Petroleum0.4%
  • Windrenewable0.1%

Market Overview

Residential Revenue

$857.3M

Commercial Revenue

$522.4M

Residential Sales

5.2M MWh

Residential Customers

473.5K

Frequently Asked Questions

How much does electricity cost in Delaware?
Residential electricity in Delaware costs 16.57¢/kWh (2024), which is 0.5% above the national average. Commercial rate: 12.20¢/kWh. Industrial rate: 8.49¢/kWh.
How much of Delaware's electricity is renewable?
Renewable sources account for 7.8% of Delaware's electricity generation (2024). The top source is natural gas at 88.7%.
Are electricity prices going up in Delaware?
From 2016 to 2024, residential electricity in Delaware changed from 13.42¢/kWh to 16.57¢/kWh (+23.5%).
What are commercial and industrial electricity rates in Delaware?
Commercial electricity in Delaware costs 12.20¢/kWh and industrial costs 8.49¢/kWh (2024).
What is the cheapest energy source in Delaware?
Delaware's electricity generation is led by natural gas at 88.7% of the mix, followed by solar at 7.8% (2024). Nationally, natural gas and renewables like wind and solar tend to have the lowest marginal generation costs.
Where does RateWatt's Delaware electricity data come from?
All electricity price and generation data comes from the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA), the official federal statistics agency for energy data. Data is updated annually.

Using Delaware's numbers

This is the state average, use it as a benchmark, not a quote for your address.

  • Delaware sits 0.5% above the national average, see exactly where it lands among all 50 states. See the rankings
  • Check the multi-year trend before you judge the rate, a low price rising fast can cost more over a decade than a steady one. Delaware price trend
  • Compare Delaware side by side with the US average and peer states using the tool above, then estimate your own bill from your monthly kWh. Cost calculator

Figures are EIA state averages by sector. Your actual rate depends on your utility, plan, and usage, see our disclaimer.

Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration, Electricity (Retail Sales and State Electricity Profiles). See our methodology for details. Retrieved and formatted by RateWatt Editorial

Disclaimer: This information is provided for informational purposes only and does not constitute professional advice. Data is sourced from the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA). Consult a qualified professional before making decisions based on this data.

Every figure on RateWatt is rendered directly from official U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) data, no number is typed in by an editor. State prices and generation mix are pulled directly from the EIA's published tables for this state. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error. Data current as of 2026-05-15.