State electricity profile · 2024
Illinois Electricity
Residential electricity in Illinois runs 15.87¢/kWh, 3.7% below the US average. Commercial, industrial, and generation-mix detail below, all from EIA filings.
- 15.87¢/kWh
- Residential rate
- -3.7%
- vs US average
- 16%
- Renewable
- 5.4M
- Customers
Verify with EIA → · Methodology
The verdict · 2024
Illinois's residential electricity runs 15.87¢/kWh - 3.7% below the 16.48¢/kWh national average, cheaper than 35% of states, with 16% of its power from renewables.
Rate is the EIA state average across all 5.4M residential customers, a benchmark for comparing states, not the rate on any single bill. Source: EIA Form-861.
What Illinois's Electricity Data Tells Us
Illinois's residential rate stands at 15.87¢/kWh for 2024, across a base of 5.4M metered households, a gap of 3.7% under the national residential average (16.48¢/kWh). On the commercial side, the rate is 11.81¢/kWh, and industrial customers are billed 8.83¢/kWh, reflecting the cost differentials that come from voltage level, load factor, and contract length across EIA Form-861 survey respondents. Residential sales for the year came to 44.9M MWh, translating to roughly $7.1B in revenue for utilities, a useful yardstick for sizing local demand against the grid mix that serves it.
Illinois's power comes primarily from nuclear, which accounts for 53.2% of in-state generation, backed up by natural gas at 16.2%, and coal rounding out the top three at 14.5%. Across solar, wind, hydro, geothermal, and biomass, renewables account for 16.0% of electricity generated in Illinois, a figure that matters because each renewable megawatt-hour displaces fuel costs that otherwise flow through to retail bills. Expansion headroom remains: cost curves for wind and solar have fallen faster than fossil alternatives for most of the last decade.
Looking back across EIA records, residential prices in Illinois moved from 12.54¢/kWh in 2016 to 15.87¢/kWh in 2024, a 26.6% shift over that window. States charging a similar rate include Ohio, Minnesota, Alabama, a useful peer set for a sanity check. 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.
-3.7%
vs the US residential average
35%
of states have higher residential rates
16%
renewable share, below the US mix
5.4M
residential customers served
How Illinois compares
Cents per kWh, EIA Form 861. Pick a benchmark above to compare Illinois against the US average or a peer state.
Residential Price History
| Year | Price | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2024 | 15.87¢/kWh | +1.0% |
| 2023 | 15.71¢/kWh | +0.4% |
| 2022 | 15.65¢/kWh | +18.7% |
| 2021 | 13.18¢/kWh | +1.1% |
| 2020 | 13.04¢/kWh | +0.1% |
| 2019 | 13.03¢/kWh | +2.0% |
| 2018 | 12.77¢/kWh | -1.4% |
| 2017 | 12.95¢/kWh | +3.3% |
| 2016 | 12.54¢/kWh | - |
Energy Generation Mix
How Illinois generates its electricity. Renewable sources account for 16.0% of generation.
- Nuclear53.2%
- Natural Gas16.2%
- Coal14.5%
- Windrenewable13.4%
- Solarrenewable2.6%
- Other0.1%
Market Overview
Residential Revenue
$7.1B
Commercial Revenue
$5.3B
Residential Sales
44.9M MWh
Residential Customers
5.4M
Frequently Asked Questions
How much does electricity cost in Illinois? ▼
How much of Illinois's electricity is renewable? ▼
Are electricity prices going up in Illinois? ▼
What are commercial and industrial electricity rates in Illinois? ▼
What is the cheapest energy source in Illinois? ▼
Where does RateWatt's Illinois electricity data come from? ▼
States with Similar Electricity Prices
Using Illinois's numbers
This is the state average, use it as a benchmark, not a quote for your address.
- Illinois sits 3.7% below 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. Illinois price trend
- Compare Illinois 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.
Energy Guides
Understanding Electricity Rates
What ¢/kWh means and how your bill is calculated
Why Prices Vary by State
Generation mix, regulation, and geography
US Energy Sources Explained
How each fuel source powers the grid
Renewable vs Fossil Fuel Costs
LCOE comparison and the cost crossover
Cheapest States for Electricity
Which states pay the least and why
Primary source data for Illinois
Every figure on this page traces to these official federal datasets.
- 📊 EIA State Energy Profile, Illinois State energy database
- ⚡ EIA Electric Power Monthly Generation and price statistics
- 🌿 EPA eGRID Power-grid emissions database
- ☀️ NREL solar resource maps Solar potential by location
- 💨 NREL wind resource maps Wind potential by location
- ⚛️ NRC reactor data Nuclear operating status
- ⚡ FERC market data Transmission and market prices
- 🏛️ NARUC commissions State public utility commissions
- 📖 EIA energy mapping system Interactive federal energy map
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. 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.