US · power prices
Electricity prices for data centres: every US state against Europe and Ireland
US industrial customers paid 9.03¢/kWh on average in July 2026 YTD (EIA), and commercial customers, where most data centres are classed, 13.97¢. Virginia's industrial average was 10.08¢ and Texas's 6.72¢. Europe's largest users (150 GWh a year or more) paid about 12.8¢ in H2 2025 and Ireland's 18.6¢ (Eurostat, converted at the ECB rate).
Updated 12 October 2026 · data build 2026-10-10 · how we know · corrections
US industrial users paid 9.03¢/kWh; Europe's largest users 12.8¢; Ireland 18.6¢
EIA average price to ultimate customers, July 2026 YTD; Eurostat band IG (≥150 GWh/yr, excluding VAT), H2 2025; US cents per kWh. Measured
Industrial prices in data-centre states against every European country that reports band IG
US cents per kWh. Grey bars: US states (EIA, July 2026 YTD); red bars: European countries (Eurostat band IG, H2 2025). Measured
Source: EIA Electric Power Monthly, table 5.6.B · Eurostat nrg_pc_205 · ECB reference rates · as of 2026-10-11 · conversion and selection of states by StackPath · Compiled by StackPath
The chart shows the 16 states with large data-centre clusters; the table below has all of them. The European bars use band IG in both views, since Eurostat does not have a commercial class.
Prices rose 1.9× as fast in PJM states: 8.4% against 4.5% for industrial users
Median change in average price, July 2026 YTD against July 2025 YTD, for states all or partly in PJM and for the rest (EIA). Measured
Source: EIA Electric Power Monthly, table 5.6.B · PJM territory served · as of 2026-10-11 · medians and changes are our arithmetic · Compiled by StackPath
Red bars: states all or partly in PJM. The ten states with the biggest commercial-price rises are shown. PJM's capacity price jumped from $28.92 to $269.92/MW-day for the delivery year that began in June 2025 (PJM auctions).
Our reading. The timing and the geography fit capacity costs reaching bills, but averages also move with fuel prices, utility rate cases and changes in who is classed as commercial or industrial. This is consistent with a capacity-price effect, not proof of one.
Every state: New Mexico cheapest at 5.21¢, Hawaii dearest at 37.59¢
Average price by state and sector, cents/kWh, year to date and latest month (EIA). Industrial prices rose on the year in 43 of 50 states and DC. Measured
Year to date: July 2026 YTD vs July 2025 YTD. Latest month: July 2026. EIA values are preliminary.
Download CSV ↓Source: EIA Electric Power Monthly, tables 5.6.A and 5.6.B · as of 2026-10-11 · Compiled by StackPath
Our reading. On price alone the US is the cheaper place to run a data centre: its industrial average sits below all but 3 of the European countries that report band IG (Sweden, France, Norway), and Texas and Louisiana are about a third of Ireland's price. In the US the harder limit looks like getting connected rather than price (our reading), and PJM's capacity price, at its $325/MW-day cap for 2028/29, is a cost that utilities pass through to bills in PJM states such as Virginia, Ohio and Pennsylvania; how much it adds for large users depends on each state's tariffs. See the US power crunch and Europe's prices country by country.
EIA classifies most data centres as commercial customers, not industrial; both sectors are shown.
Questions people ask
- Which US state has the cheapest electricity for data centres?
- By EIA's industrial average for July 2026 YTD: New Mexico (5.21¢/kWh), Louisiana (6.65¢/kWh), Oklahoma (6.69¢/kWh). Big campuses negotiate their own rates, so these averages are a guide, not a quote. Commercial averages, the class most data centres fall into, are higher: New Mexico 10.75¢, Louisiana 11.88¢, Oklahoma 9.08¢.
- How much do data centres pay for electricity in Virginia?
- EIA's average for Virginia was 10.08¢/kWh for industrial and 11.21¢/kWh for commercial customers in July 2026 YTD. Dominion's large data-centre customers are on specific tariffs that EIA does not split out.
- Is electricity cheaper for data centres in the US than in Europe or Ireland?
- Mostly yes. The US industrial average (9.03¢/kWh, July 2026 YTD) is below Eurostat's EU average for the largest users (12.8¢ in H2 2025) and well below Ireland (18.6¢). Sweden, France, Norway were below the US average. Converted at $1.1657 per euro (ECB average).
- Are data centres industrial or commercial electricity customers?
- In EIA's statistics most data centres are commercial customers: utilities classify by tariff or business code, and EIA notes the split varies by utility. That is why this page shows both. Europe's Eurostat bands classify by annual consumption instead; band IG (150 GWh a year or more) is the size of one large campus.