North Carolina

Residential electricity rates · latest May 2026

Avg monthly bill

$130

⚾ The monthly tab

Typical residential bill — $7 higher than the 2019 average.

Residential rate

15.1¢

⚾ Price per kWh

Cents per kilowatt-hour. +32% vs. the 2019 average.

National rank

32nd

⚾ League rank

Fastest-rising residential rate since 2019, of 51 states.

Home vs. industry

15.1¢ / 7.8¢

⚾ Home vs. away

Homes pay 15.1¢/kWh; large industry pays 7.8¢/kWh — 94% more for households.

Your rate vs. grid demand

Duke Energy Carolinas demand · North Carolina rate

Amber = the grid region's average demand (GW, left). Red = the state's residential rate (¢/kWh, right). The rate line ends a couple months early because EIA reports retail data on a lag.

Homes vs. industry

North Carolina · ¢/kWh

What households pay (red) vs. large industrial users (dashed). The shaded band is the gap — the affordability story behind data-center load growth.

Most of North Carolina's power runs through Duke Energy Carolinas, where grid demand rose 4% over the same period — a signature of the always-on, data-center-driven load reshaping the grid.

EIA derives the rate as revenue ÷ electricity sold — a proxy, not a surveyed tariff. Rates rise for many reasons (fuel costs, grid upgrades, storms), not data centers alone, so this shows correlation, not causation. Note the rate is a statewide residential average while the demand is the regional grid operator's — related, but not the same geography.