Washington Electricity

What Washington's Electricity Data Tells Us

In 2024, the average residential electricity bill in Washington runs 11.90¢/kWh, spread across 3.4M metered households, running 27.8% behind the national residential average of 16.48¢/kWh. On the commercial side, the rate is 9.99¢/kWh, and industrial power costs 6.61¢/kWh, reflecting the cost differentials that come from voltage level, load factor, and contract length across EIA Form-861 survey respondents. 38.6M MWh moved through residential meters over the year, generating about $4.6B in utility revenue, a useful yardstick for sizing local demand against the grid mix that serves it.

hydro dominates Washington's generation mix, supplying 59.7% of in-state production; the runner-up is natural gas, at 17.8% and nuclear in third at 9.8%. Renewable fuels, solar, wind, hydro, geothermal, and biomass, collectively account for 69.5% of Washington's electricity output, a figure that matters because each renewable megawatt-hour displaces fuel costs that otherwise flow through to retail bills. A portfolio this clean typically carries lower marginal generation costs once capacity is built, though transmission upgrades can offset part of the saving.

Looking back across EIA records, residential prices in Washington moved from 9.48¢/kWh in 2016 to 11.90¢/kWh in 2024, a 25.5% shift over that window. Louisiana, Utah, Oklahoma sit at a similar price point, worth a look if you want a peer comparison. 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.