Rhode Island Electricity Rates per kWh: What Winter Really Costs

Federal averages lag behind Rhode Island’s bills by months, and this winter the gap is wide. The state commission’s own chart puts a 500 kWh October at $180.15 before credits, $4.94 above the figure quoted all summer. Two credits and a new seasonal delivery rate bring that down this winter, but the credits end during 2027.

Above the US average in every year since 2010

Rhode Island has paid more than the national average in every year of our series. The price fell to about 14.3¢ in 2011 and 2012, then climbed past 20¢ in 2018, 27¢ in 2023 and 29.5¢ in 2025. The latest 12 months average 29.48¢, against 15.92¢ in 2010. That rise of 85% is the fourth largest of the 51.

The biggest single step came in 2023, when the yearly price moved from 23.2¢ to 27.0¢. It has kept rising since, more slowly. Read the 12-month figure, because the monthly price jumps with every supply reset.

October came in $4.94 above the quoted $175, then winter falls

Rhode Island Energy told regulators in July that a 500 kWh home would go from $144.28 to $175.21 on 1 October. Delivery rates then changed after the August rate case. The Public Utilities Commission’s October chart puts the same month at $180.15 before credits.

That figure does not hold all winter. The rate case created a seasonal delivery rate, with a base charge of 4.998¢ for December to March usage against 6.498¢ in other months. That takes about $7.81 off a 500 kWh month, close to when the larger credit arrives.

So after credits, a 500 kWh month from January to March ends up below July. Winter homes use more, though. A 650 kWh month, close to the state’s January average, is about $220 before credits and about $185 after them.

The winter rows are our sums from the commission’s total and assume no other line changes before the December sheet appears. Rates follow your usage and credits follow your bill, so a real bill can shift by a month.

Our own sum from the October tariff sheets gives $179.96, which is 19¢ below the commission. The same sum matches both July figures to the cent, and the gap sits in distribution. We could not trace it, so we use the commission’s number. Local reporting put the rate case at $3.82 a month. We did not find the basis for that, but the effect does depend on the season: October is $4.94 above the July estimate, and January is $2.87 below it before credits.

Where $180.15 goes, line by line

Supply is the largest part of the bill, though it is less than half. About 16% pays for state energy programs, and those are the lines lawmakers have been arguing over.

The commission publishes these groups, and we split its renewable group using the tariff rates, so a line can differ by a cent. From December the distribution rate falls to 5.353¢.

Each extra kWh costs about 33.6¢ with tax in October and November and about 32.1¢ from December to March, because fixed charges do not grow. In July it cost about 26.6¢. That is the number to use when you price a space heater, an EV charge or a new appliance.

Since 2017 the renewable lines grew fastest; supply added the most

The commission’s chart goes back to 2017, and it shows the rise did not come from one place.

Renewable charges grew about 4.7 times, from a small base. Distribution and transmission each rose by about 65%, close to the 63% rise in supply. Efficiency barely moved. Small lines not shown make up the rest of each total.

17¢ is not the supply record, but this October is the priciest since 2017

Default supply, called Last Resort Service, resets on 1 April and 1 October. It has moved by about 4 to 8¢ at each reset since 2024.

This winter’s supply price sits below the two winters of 2022 to 2024, and the Providence Journal called it the third-highest ever. The October bill is still the tallest in the commission’s chart back to 2017, because delivery and policy charges have risen underneath it. The Division of Public Utilities and Carriers puts supply alone at $11.77 more than last winter for a 500 kWh home.

New England leans on natural gas and has limited pipeline room, so winter power costs more. This year the company also points to reserves bought through ISO New England’s day-ahead ancillary services market, which began on 1 March 2025. It says those costs make up about 28% of the rise. The commission asked whether up to 61% of the rise came from this. The company replied that ancillary costs had risen 61%, which is a different thing, and reported estimates show them going from $4.09 to $10.38 per MWh. Capacity costs fell slightly.

The company locks in 85% of this supply through contracts and leaves 15% to the spot market. On 23 October it asked to raise the spot share to 25% for April to September in 2027 to 2029, which would tie summer bills more closely to wholesale prices. The Division reviewed the winter filing and recommended approval.

Both credits run out by October 2027

Two flat credits explain why a bill that rose on the rate sheets can fall on paper. Neither lowers your rate, and neither depends on how much you use.

Together they come to about $243 per account over 12 months, so they matter most to a small user. The hold-harmless tariff gives electric customers $91,081,790 of a package of about $170 million across gas and electric. PPL’s commitment would otherwise have spread over decades, and the commission let the company pay it out early. So this money is being spent now in place of later.

The hold-harmless credit goes to each active electric account that gets a bill, businesses included. The winter relief credit goes only to home rates A-16 and A-60. Close an account and the remaining credits stop.

In April 2027 the supply price will reset, and it has dropped each spring in our table. The harder month is October 2027. Supply is likely to climb again and the credit will have gone. On this winter’s rates, a 500 kWh month would be back at $180.15.

August’s rate case cut the ask and froze the profit rate

This was the company’s first full distribution case since 2018, and the first since PPL bought it. The commission ruled on 21 August 2026.

The state Division of Public Utilities and Carriers had recommended a return of about 8.25%, and Governor McKee called it “troubling” that the commission did not accept it. He said his administration would come back to the issue. The company also lost more than $9.4 million in IT and software costs and must file a detailed plan, including bill format fixes, before it recovers the cost of a new billing system.

The commission also ordered the seasonal home delivery rate, capped at a 1.5¢ gap, and told the company to file a tariff by 31 December 2026 for very large loads such as data centers. It is meant to stop them shifting costs to other customers, with a starting threshold of 20 MW.

Lawmakers kept the 2033 renewable target and the efficiency money

Governor McKee proposed saving ratepayers about $1 billion over five years by weakening renewable and efficiency programs. His plan would have moved the 100% renewable deadline from 2033 to 2050 and capped efficiency spending at $75 million a year, down from $95 million. His office put the renewable change alone at $572 million over five years.

The budget that passed in June kept the 2033 date and dropped the cap. It did loosen the standard: existing nuclear and hydro can now count for up to 14% of energy in 2027, rising to 20% in 2033. Critics of the governor’s plan argued that delaying clean energy only moves costs into later years.

We found no published estimate of what the final change does to the 1.604¢ renewable charge.

Providence’s plan wins by 0.1¢ this winter, after losing by 2.4¢

As of October 2025, seven Rhode Island municipalities, including Providence, Newport, Narragansett, Barrington and South Kingstown, bought power for residents who do not opt out. Providence’s own prices show how close that race is.

Last summer’s gap cost a 500 kWh home about $12 a month before tax, and this winter’s saves 50 cents. The calendars also differ. Providence prices run by meter read to the November read, so its program kept 13.519¢ for some weeks after the default jumped on 1 October, which is worth up to about $17.50 at 500 kWh. Providence says its average enrollee has saved about $55 over the life of the program, and it adds 5% more local clean energy. You can leave at any time without a fee.

The federal figures point the same way for all suppliers. In 2025 the 119,439 Rhode Island homes buying from someone other than the utility paid 30.63¢ per kWh in total, when the same use at the utility’s price would have cost 29.45¢. That comes to about $74 a home, or $8.8 million across the state. The federal count does not split town programs from private contracts as far as we can tell.

Worked out from EIA-861 for 2025: suppliers’ revenue from homes plus the utilities’ delivery-only revenue, divided by the kWh, against the same kWh at each utility’s default-service price per kWh. Aggregation programmes count as suppliers. The averages hide wide differences between contracts.

To judge a 12-month fixed offer this winter, do not compare it with 17.029¢. Weighted by how Rhode Island homes used power over the latest year, this year’s two default prices average about 14.0¢. An offer near 17¢ would only look cheap until April. Check the renewable content, the term and what the price rolls onto.

EIA-861 for 2025, Sales to Ultimate Customers (residential): every utility, supplier and retail provider’s own report.

Check your own Rhode Island meter reading

Type in your monthly kWh to compare it with the average home. The calculator uses the 2025 federal price. For this winter, use about 32.1¢ per kWh from December to March, plus fixed charges of about $12 with tax.

July was the biggest bill, and this winter may change that

Over the latest 12 months the top bill came in July 2026, at 766 kWh and $217. January followed at 633 kWh and $191. October 2025 was the lightest, at 438 kWh and $137. July use was about 75% above October’s.

Those federal figures came before this winter’s supply price. The winter relief credit lands in the highest-use winter months, which helps, and a budget plan can spread the rest across the year.

Heat pump homes pay winter rates built for smaller users

A September 2026 report by Switchbox found that Rhode Island heat pump homes are overcharged by about $902 a year on average, compared with what it costs to serve them. It was commissioned by groups including the Environmental Defense Fund and the Conservation Law Foundation, which want a dedicated rate. Treat it as advocacy-funded work. The bill side of the argument is easy to see, though: every kWh carries the full delivery and policy charges, so a home that adds winter heating pays far more of them.

At about 32.1¢ per kWh in deep winter, that point is easy to feel. The 1.5¢ seasonal cut helps here, and it applies to every home on the basic rate. Rhode Island Energy has agreed to study the issue and begin planning for heat pump rates. We found no dedicated rate in force yet.

Smart meters are arriving too, about 530,000 of them under a $153 million plan that began in Westerly. They make time-based pricing possible, though the company’s proposal for those rates was only a framework in the rate case, and we could not confirm any result.

Shutoffs resume on 1 May, so plan before spring

Rhode Island blocks winter shutoffs from 1 November to 1 May. Last spring showed what follows. More than 2,700 Rhode Island Energy customers lost gas or electric service in May 2026, about 50,000 got warning letters, and disconnected electric customers owed $3,250 on average. The 2-1-1 helpline logged more than 5,700 energy calls in May and June, against 1,184 a year earlier.

• Low-income rate A-60. It takes 25% off for homes that qualify through LIHEAP. A five-tier discount follows, with bigger cuts at lower incomes, expected in January 2027. Earlier reporting said March, and that it would hold the lowest-income bills near 6% of income.
• Good Neighbor Energy Fund. One-time grants have run up to $600 for gas or electric bills.
• LIHEAP. Applications reopened on 1 October.
• Budget billing. This spreads your year evenly, though it does not lower the total.

Pascoag and Block Island run on separate bills

Nearly every home in the state is on Rhode Island Energy, the only utility large enough to appear in the federal table below. Two small districts are not, and none of the rates above apply to them.

Pascoag Utility District in Burrillville has been far cheaper. The commission’s January 2025 order in its rate case describes a 500 kWh bill going from about $88 to $92, and later adjustments may have moved it. Block Island runs the other way, with a plant and distribution charge that changes by season.

Power and transmission come on top, with a $10 monthly charge. A June 2026 analysis puts the whole 500 kWh price at about 28.8¢ per kWh in winter and 48.35¢ in July and August, and the tariff above is consistent with that.

EIA-861 for 2025: each utility’s revenue from homes divided by the kWh they used, so monthly charges are spread into the price.

A top-five price on some of the lowest use in the country

Rhode Island homes used 6,605 kWh over the latest 12 months, which ranks 48th of the 51. That is why a top-five price gives a yearly bill of $1,947, ranked 18th. Only California, Hawaii and Maine homes use less.

Connecticut pays over 2¢ less per kWh than Rhode Island and spends about $360 more a year, because its homes use over 1,800 kWh more. Only Vermont and Maine spent less in the region.

Across the border: Connecticut 27.42¢, Massachusetts 30.39¢.

All 50 states and DC on one page, with a map.

Why November 2024 reads 35.6¢, and what is still unwritten

The federal series shows 35.61¢ for November 2024, then 25.40¢ for December and 31.68¢ for January 2025. A spike and drop that size in a single month is almost certainly timing, with revenue and sales landing in different months, and not a real rate. The August 2026 figure at the top of this page also predates the winter supply price, and the federal October data will not appear until around the end of December. Credits may then make the federal price look lower than the rates on your bill.

Rates come from Rhode Island Energy’s tariff sheets, and decisions come from the commission’s minutes, tariffs and Division memos. When we checked on 6 November, the winter supply docket listed the company’s tariffs of 29 September but no written order. The written order in the rate case was also not among the documents we read, so we rely on the minutes of the 21 August vote.

Figures to August 2026 (EIA marks recent months preliminary), utility figures for 2025, refreshed 3 November 2026. How every number in this series is made and checked.

• Rhode Island, every month since 2010 (CSV): price per kWh, kWh and bill per home, and the US price.
• Every state, DC and the US (CSV)
• Everything above with the utility and supplier figures (JSON)

EIA data is in the public domain: credit the U.S. Energy Information Administration. A link back is welcome.

Questions

Electricity rates in other states

Version history

• 1.1 (November 2026): corrected the winter bill after reading the commission’s documents: delivery falls 1.5¢ for December to March usage, so January is lower than we first showed. The October figure is now the commission’s $180.15, the hold-harmless credit is confirmed as flat, and the large-load tariff is an order to file, not an approved tariff.
• 1.0 (November 2026): first published.