State electricity profile · EIA monthly through May 2026
Hawaii Electricity
As of May 2026, residential electricity in Hawaii costs 52.00¢ per kWh (+26.7% vs May 2025). EIA publishes these figures monthly and this page follows them. Hawaii's 2025 annual residential electricity rate is 40.59¢/kWh, 134.6% above the US average. The rate sits above the national average while renewables supply 34% of in-state generation, leaving most of the mix, broken out below, still fossil-fired.
- 52.00¢
- May 2026 rate
- +26.7%
- year over year
- 40.59¢/kWh
- Residential rate
- +134.6%
- vs US average
- 34%
- Renewable
- 449.9K
- Customers
Verify with EIA → · Methodology
40.59¢/kWh residential, 36.37¢/kWh commercial
In the U.S. Energy Information Administration's 2025 annual-frequency retail-sales series, Hawaii's residential average revenue per kWh is 40.59¢/kWh, with a commercial average of 36.37¢/kWh and an industrial average of 31.46¢/kWh; a separate EIA generation series for 2025 reports 34% of the state's generation from renewables.
- 134.6% above the US average vs national residential average
- 34% renewable generation
The verdict · 2025
Hawaii's residential electricity runs 40.59¢/kWh - 134.6% above the 17.30¢/kWh national average, pricier than 100% of other states, with 34% of its power from renewables.
This is EIA state average revenue per kWh across 449.9K reported residential customers, a benchmark for comparing states, not the tariff on any single bill. Source: EIA retail-sales API, annual frequency.
Annual rate change
What changed in the 2025 annual EIA period
- Hawaii's industrial average fell from 34.13¢/kWh to 31.46¢/kWh between the 2024 and 2025 annual-frequency EIA retail-sales periods, a change of -7.8%.
- Hawaii's residential average fell from 42.86¢/kWh to 40.59¢/kWh between the 2024 and 2025 annual-frequency EIA retail-sales periods, a change of -5.3%.
- Hawaii's commercial average fell from 38.18¢/kWh to 36.37¢/kWh between the 2024 and 2025 annual-frequency EIA retail-sales periods, a change of -4.7%.
Where Hawaii's residential rate sits nationally
2025 average revenue per kWh across every reporting state
40.59¢/kWh 0th affordability percentile Highest value among 51 reporting states
all reporting states, equal-width bands
Each bar spans 5¢/kWh. Taller bars contain more states; the dashed marker locates this state. Hover, focus or tap a bar for its exact count and share.
Source U.S. Energy Information Administration, retail-sales API · 2025 annual frequency
How Hawaii compares
Average revenue per kWh, EIA retail-sales API. Pick a benchmark above to compare Hawaii against the US average or a peer state.
Residential Price History
Hawaii residential average revenue per kWh moved from 27.47¢/kWh in 2016 to 40.59¢/kWh in 2025 (47.8% over the window).
- Hawaii residential avg
- 40.59¢/kWh 47.8% since 2016
- 2016 → 2025
- Hawaii residential: 2016, 27.5¢
- Hawaii residential: 2017, 29.5¢
- Hawaii residential: 2018, 32.5¢
- Hawaii residential: 2019, 32.1¢
- Hawaii residential: 2020, 30.3¢
- Hawaii residential: 2021, 33.5¢
- Hawaii residential: 2022, 43¢
- Hawaii residential: 2023, 42.4¢
- Hawaii residential: 2024, 42.9¢
- Hawaii residential: 2025, 40.6¢
Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration, retail-sales API · annual frequency. Hawaii full trend →
Hawaii Average Price by Sector and Year (¢/kWh)
The chart above tracks households only. In 2025, Hawaii households paid 40.59¢/kWh while businesses paid 36.37¢/kWh, an 11.6% residential premium, a moderate household-versus-business gap. Every year EIA has published is below, so a single year can be read across all three sectors rather than assembled from three separate EIA queries.
| Year | Residential | Commercial | Industrial |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 40.59¢/kWh | 36.37¢/kWh | 31.46¢/kWh |
| 2024 | 42.86¢/kWh | 38.18¢/kWh | 34.13¢/kWh |
| 2023 | 42.39¢/kWh | 39.03¢/kWh | 35.28¢/kWh |
| 2022 | 43.03¢/kWh | 40.18¢/kWh | 36.71¢/kWh |
| 2021 | 33.49¢/kWh | 30.88¢/kWh | 27.12¢/kWh |
| 2020 | 30.28¢/kWh | 28.41¢/kWh | 24.45¢/kWh |
| 2019 | 32.06¢/kWh | 29.23¢/kWh | 25.76¢/kWh |
| 2018 | 32.47¢/kWh | 29.90¢/kWh | 26.10¢/kWh |
| 2017 | 29.50¢/kWh | 26.77¢/kWh | 22.92¢/kWh |
| 2016 | 27.47¢/kWh | 24.64¢/kWh | 20.69¢/kWh |
Average revenue per kilowatt-hour, U.S. Energy Information Administration annual-frequency retail-sales series. Revenue per kWh is what customers in each sector actually paid on average, not an advertised tariff rate. Years with no EIA figure for a sector show —.
What Hawaii's Electricity Data Tells Us
Residential customers in Hawaii pay 40.59¢/kWh in 2025, across 449.9K metered households, placing the state 134.6% above the national residential average of 17.30¢/kWh. Commercial rates sit at 36.37¢/kWh while industrial buyers pay 31.46¢/kWh. These sector averages describe recorded revenue per kWh; this dataset alone does not establish why they differ. Annual residential sales total 2.7M MWh on roughly $1.1B in utility revenue. Sales and revenue are reported retail-series measures and should not be treated as a local load forecast.
Hawaii prices its sectors in step: 1 of 51 residential against 1 industrial. A state this consistent is the exception rather than the rule, and it means the residential figure above is a fair proxy for how the whole grid is priced. Petroleum carries the majority of Hawaii's in-state generation at 63.4%, though not the whole grid: solar supplies 23.7% and wind a further 5.2%. It is the only state where that fuel leads. Renewable fuels (solar, wind, hydro, geothermal and biomass) account for 33.7% of Hawaii's electricity output. These shares describe in-state generation, not a utility-specific customer bill.
Looking back across EIA records, residential prices in Hawaii moved from 27.47¢/kWh in 2016 to 40.59¢/kWh in 2025, a 47.8% shift over that window. States charging a similar rate include California, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, a useful peer set for a sanity check. Almost no state still burns oil for power, and Hawaii does. That single fact explains most of the rate above: it is exposed directly to a world oil price that no other state's residential customers carry. At this level it matters what the figure is made of: it is total revenue divided by total kilowatt-hours, so delivery, taxes and fees are inside it but never broken out. In a state as dear as Hawaii that hides which part of the bill a household could actually act on.
+134.6%
Much more expensive vs the US residential average
0%
of states have higher rates — Among the costliest
34%
Moderate renewable — above the 25% US mix
449.9K
residential customers served
Energy Generation Mix (2025)
How Hawaii generates its electricity, from the EIA generation series for 2025 (separate from the 2025 retail-sales price figures above). Renewable sources account for 33.7% of generation.
- Petroleum63.4%
- Solarrenewable23.7%
- Windrenewable5.2%
- Other2.9%
- Geothermalrenewable2.3%
- Biomassrenewable1.7%
- Hydrorenewable0.7%
Who generates Hawaii's electricity
Hawaii has 212 operable generating units on EIA's inventory totalling 3,435 MW of net summer capacity. The largest single plant is Kahe , a petroleum liquids station operated by Hawaiian Electric Co Inc , rated 582 MW.
The grid here is run by Hawaiian Electric Co Inc, the balancing authority that keeps supply and demand matched across the state.
Showing the 16 largest of 73 operable plants in Hawaii by net summer capacity.
| Plant | Operator | Technology | County | MW |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kahe | Hawaiian Electric Co Inc | Petroleum Liquids | – | 582 |
| Waiau | Hawaiian Electric Co Inc | Petroleum Liquids | – | 362 |
| Kalaeloa Cogen Plant | Kalaeloa Partners LP | Petroleum Liquids | – | 220 |
| Maalaea | Maui Electric Co Ltd | Petroleum Liquids | – | 186 |
| Kapolei Energy Storage | Kapolei Energy Storage I, LLC | Batteries | – | 185 |
| AES Maui Kuihelani Solar Hybrid | AES Distributed Energy | Batteries | – | 120 |
| Ho'Ohana Solar 1 | Ho'Ohana Solar 1 LLC | Solar Photovoltaic | – | 117 |
| Campbell Industrial Park | Hawaiian Electric Co Inc | Petroleum Liquids | – | 113 |
| H Power | Covanta Honolulu Resource Recovery | Municipal Solid Waste | – | 89 |
| Waiawa Solar Power Hybrid | Waiawa Solar Power LLC | Solar Photovoltaic | – | 82 |
| Keahole | Hawaii Electric Light Co Inc | Petroleum Liquids | – | 79 |
| Mililani South Solar Farm | Mililani I Solar LLC | Solar Photovoltaic | – | 78 |
| Port Allen (HI) | Kauai Island Utility Cooperative | Petroleum Liquids | – | 78 |
| Hale Kuawehi Solar Hybrid | Hale Kuawehi Solar LLC | Solar Photovoltaic | – | 74 |
| Kawailoa Wind | Kawailoa Wind LLC | Onshore Wind Turbine | – | 69 |
| Hamakua Energy Plant | Hamakua Energy LP | Petroleum Liquids | – | 61 |
| Operating company | Plants | Net summer MW |
|---|---|---|
| Hawaiian Electric Co Inc | 6 | 1,137 |
| AES Distributed Energy | 5 | 273 |
| Maui Electric Co Ltd | 6 | 243 |
| Kalaeloa Partners LP | 1 | 220 |
| Kapolei Energy Storage I, LLC | 1 | 185 |
| Hawaii Electric Light Co Inc | 7 | 180 |
| Kauai Island Utility Cooperative | 4 | 129 |
| Ho'Ohana Solar 1 LLC | 1 | 117 |
| Evergreen Wind, LLC | 3 | 91 |
| Covanta Honolulu Resource Recovery | 1 | 89 |
Operable units only, from EIA's generator inventory as reported for 2026-05. Capacity is net summer rating, which is what a unit can reliably deliver in peak conditions rather than its nameplate figure. Ownership and operatorship can differ; the company shown is the one EIA records as operating the unit.
Market Overview
Residential Revenue
$1.1B
Commercial Revenue
$1.0B
Residential Sales
2.7M MWh
Residential Customers
449.9K
States with Similar Electricity Prices
Frequently Asked Questions
How much does electricity cost in Hawaii? ▼
Where does Hawaii's residential electricity rate rank nationally? ▼
How much of Hawaii's electricity is renewable? ▼
Are electricity prices going up in Hawaii? ▼
What are commercial and industrial electricity rates in Hawaii? ▼
Which energy sources generate the most electricity in Hawaii? ▼
Where does RateWatt's Hawaii electricity data come from? ▼
Using Hawaii's numbers
Hawaii is mid-transition, which is the phase where prices are hardest to predict: it is paying to run the old fleet and to build the new one at the same time, and the rate above sits in the middle of that.
- Hawaii sits 134.6% 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. Hawaii price trend
- Compare Hawaii 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, computed as revenue divided by sales, so delivery and taxes are inside them but not broken out. Your actual rate depends on your utility, plan, and usage, see our disclaimer.
Read with Hawaii: why energy prices vary
Where Hawaii's figures come from
Every price and generation figure on this page is drawn from the EIA series below, and from nothing else.
Utilities serving Hawaii
The 9 utilities that reported bundled residential service in Hawaii to EIA Form 861 (2024), largest first. Entity prices below are Form 861 averages for that release, not the same survey as the 2025 retail-sales statewide average above, and not a household tariff. What an individual household pays depends on which of these serves its address.
| Utility | Ownership | Customers | Avg ¢/kWh |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hawaiian Electric Co Inc | Investor Owned | 276.2K | 42.87¢ |
| Hawaii Electric Light Co Inc | Investor Owned | 78.4K | 48.31¢ |
| Maui Electric Co Ltd | Investor Owned | 61.8K | 43.96¢ |
| Kauai Island Utility Cooperative | Cooperative | 30.1K | 41.29¢ |
| Sunrun Inc. | Behind the Meter | 15.1K | 28.34¢ |
| Tesla Inc. | Behind the Meter | 2.4K | 18.16¢ |
| SunPower Capital, LLC | Behind the Meter | 1.1K | 59.57¢ |
| Sunnova | Behind the Meter | 849 | 35.75¢ |
| Spruce Finance | Behind the Meter | 481 | 12.21¢ |
The 1 serving 100.0K+ residential customers link to a full profile. Presence in EIA Form 861 is not evidence that a utility is available at a given address or that a customer may choose it.
Related
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. Statewide prices use the EIA retail-sales annual series (2025). Generation mix uses a separate EIA generation series (2025). Utility rows use Form EIA-861 (2024) and are not averaged into the statewide retail-sales figure. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error. Data current as of 2025.