US Commercial Electricity Price (2001–2026)

The US Commercial Electricity Price is the national average retail rate paid by businesses, services, and institutions, in cents per kilowatthour, published monthly by the EIA since 2001. It is the power cost input to the services economy — offices, retail, hospitals, schools — and sits between the household and industrial rates. It has risen from 7.25 cents (2001) to a peak of 14.37 cents in February 2026, standing at 13.51 cents mid-year.

Dataset: US Commercial Electricity Price (2001–2026) · Updated 2026-05-01

Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) · series electricity/retail-sales (sectorid=COM)

Macro Takeaway

Dataset Overview

Dataset Variables

The CSV and Excel files contain the following columns.

A value of 13.51 means commercial customers paid an average of 13.51 cents per kilowatthour that month.

Download the Complete Dataset

The full dataset is available in CSV and Excel formats.

EIA Direct API Access

The underlying data comes from the U.S. Energy Information Administration API v2 (route electricity/retail-sales, series electricity/retail-sales (sectorid=COM)). An EIA API key is free from the EIA developer portal.

Direct CSV Access — Eco3min Structured Dataset

https://eco3min.fr/dataset/eia/us-electricity-price-commercial.csv

This URL returns the complete, cleaned dataset in CSV format. It can be used directly in pandas, R, curl, or any data tool — no key required.

Using the Dataset in Python

import pandas as pd

url = "https://eco3min.fr/dataset/eia/us-electricity-price-commercial.csv"
df = pd.read_csv(url, parse_dates=["date"])

print(f"Latest: {df['commercial_electricity_price'].iloc[-1]:.3f} cents/kWh")
print(df.tail())

Using the Dataset in R

library(readr)

url <- "https://eco3min.fr/dataset/eia/us-electricity-price-commercial.csv"
df <- read_csv(url)

tail(df)
summary(df$commercial_electricity_price)

Both examples load the dataset directly from the URL — no download or API key required.

Methodology

Compiled from Form EIA-826 utility filings, dividing total commercial revenue by total commercial sales — a revenue-weighted all-in retail rate, updated monthly with a roughly two-month lag.

This dataset is refreshed daily (Mon–Sat) via automated pull from the EIA API v2; new observations appear with each source release.

Data Quality & Provider Notes

• Release lag. About two months; a revenue-and-sales average.
• Customer class. Offices, retail, services, institutions — mid-voltage, mid-volume.
• Grid-cost dominated. Regulated transmission and distribution drive the trend, not fuel.
• Position. Structurally between residential and industrial rates.
• Known gaps. None; continuous monthly since January 2001.

Common Pitfalls When Using This Series

1. Expecting fuel-price tracking. Grid cost dominates; commercial rates rose through the gas glut.
2. Confusing with wholesale power. The retail rate is a regulated all-in average, not a market LMP.
3. Ignoring the sector ordering. Commercial sits between residential and industrial by cost-to-serve; the level is only meaningful in that context.
4. Reading monthly moves as volatility. The series is smooth by construction; trend is the signal.

Historical Regimes

2001–2008 — Rising with costs. From 7.25 cents up through the 10-cent range.

2009–2014 — Recession-resistant grind. Steady increases despite weak demand.

2015–2020 — Up through the gas glut. Rising rates decoupled from collapsing generation fuel.

2021–2026 — Acceleration to a peak. Fuel inflation and grid spending drove the 14.37-cent high (February 2026), easing to 13.51 mid-year.

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Sources

• U.S. Energy Information Administration — Electricity Retail Sales, Form EIA-826 (commercial sector, US average)

Dataset Reference

Eco3min Research. (2026). US Commercial Electricity Price (2001–2026).<br> https://eco3min.fr/en/us-commercial-electricity-price-dataset/