Please note!

This fact brief was originally published as an experiment to test the concepts behind fact briefs.

Readers should be aware that while there is still a lot of useful information in fact briefs like this one, not all of them reflect Gigafact's current methods and standards for fact briefs. If you come across any that you feel are out of date, don't hesitate to contact us at support@gigafact.org.

FACT BRIEF

Is US electricity expensive by world standards?

Saturday, February 27, 2021

By Remaya Campbell

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U.S. electricity isn’t particularly expensive compared to some other advanced economies, but it isn’t the cheapest, either.

According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, the U.S. average residential price of electricity was about 13 cents per kilowatt-hour in 2019. Most European countries pay much more, according to a website that compares energy prices around the globe. In June 2020, the average German household paid almost 39 cents per kWh. Rates in Venezuela, Sudan and Libya were the lowest, at less than half a cent. Households in the U.S. paid nearly 15 cents per kWh in the same period, according to this site’s data.

Any U.S. average obscures wide variations across the country, reflecting different generation sources, local policies and geography. In 2019, customers in Hawaii paid almost four times more for electricity than customers in Louisiana.

This fact brief is responsive to conversations such as this one.

Sources

US Energy Information Administration: Electricity explained—Factors affecting electricity prices

GlobalPetrolPrices.org: Electricity prices

Choose Energy: US electricity rates by state

ABOUT THE CONTRIBUTOR

Gigafact

Between 2020 and 2022, under close editorial supervision, Gigafact contracted a group of freelance writers and editors to test the concepts for fact briefs and provide inputs to our software development process. We call this effort Gigafact Foundry. Over the course of these two years, Gigafact Foundry writers published over 1500 fact briefs in response to claims they found online. Their important work forms the basis of Gigafact formats and editorial guidelines, and is available to the public on Gigafact.org. Readers should be aware that while there is still a lot of relevant information to be found, not all fact briefs produced by Gigafact Foundry reflect Gigafact's current methods and standards for fact briefs. If you come across any that you feel are out of date and need to be looked at with fresh eyes, don't hesitate to contact us at support@gigafact.org.

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About fact briefs published on Gigafact

Fact briefs are short, credibly sourced summaries that offer “yes/no” answers in response to claims found online. They rely on publicly available, often primary source data and documents. Fact briefs are created by contributors to Gigafact —a nonprofit project looking to expand participation in fact-checking and protect the democratic process. See all fact briefs here.