Electricity Price History in Alaska
Alaska residential electricity averaged 28.23¢/kWh in May 2026. Below is the year-by-year record — the average rate for each year and how much it changed from the year before — followed by what the series does and does not show about Alaska prices. Data comes from EIA residential retail sales.
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Price Trend
Alaska electricity rates by year
| Year | Average rate | Change (¢/kWh) | Change (%) | Compared with |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 (Jan–May) | 26.81 ¢/kWh | +1.35 | +5.3% | Jan–May 2025 (25.46¢) |
| 2025 | 26.21 ¢/kWh | +1.24 | +5.0% | 2024 (24.97¢) |
| 2024 | 24.97 ¢/kWh | +0.94 | +3.9% | 2023 (24.03¢) |
| 2023 | 24.03 ¢/kWh | +0.81 | +3.5% | 2022 (23.22¢) |
| 2022 | 23.22 ¢/kWh | +0.57 | +2.5% | 2021 (22.65¢) |
| 2021 | 22.65 ¢/kWh | −0.02 | −0.1% | 2020 (22.67¢) |
| 2020 | 22.67 ¢/kWh | −0.33 | −1.5% | 2019 (23.00¢) |
| 2019 | 23.00 ¢/kWh | +1.00 | +4.5% | 2018 (22.01¢) |
| 2018 | 22.01 ¢/kWh | +0.67 | +3.1% | 2017 (21.34¢) |
| 2017 | 21.34 ¢/kWh | +0.97 | +4.7% | 2016 (20.37¢) |
| 2016 | 20.37 ¢/kWh | +0.45 | +2.3% | 2015 (19.92¢) |
Yearly figures are the average of the monthly EIA residential rates for that year. A year that is incomplete is labelled with the months it covers, and its change is measured against the same months of the previous year — residential rates are seasonal, so comparing a part-year against a full year would measure the season rather than the trend. Every row carries its own change, including the oldest one shown: its comparison year is the year immediately before the table starts. Where a comparison period is missing entirely, the change columns are left blank rather than filled with a zero.
Why did electricity prices rise in Alaska?
What the EIA series shows
- Past 12 months (May 2025 → May 2026)
- The Alaska residential rate rose 8.2% (+2.15¢/kWh), from 26.08¢ in May 2025 to 28.23¢ in May 2026.
- Past 5 years (May 2021 → May 2026)
- The rate rose 22.6% (+5.21¢/kWh), from 23.02¢ in May 2021 to 28.23¢ in May 2026.
- Past 10 years (May 2016 → May 2026)
- The rate rose 37.0% (+7.62¢/kWh), from 20.61¢ in May 2016 to 28.23¢ in May 2026.
- Highest and lowest month on record
- In this series the Alaska rate peaked at 28.23¢/kWh in May 2026 and bottomed at 11.22¢/kWh in January 2001. The series covers January 2001 to May 2026.
- Steepest 12-month increase
- The largest single-year move in the series ended in April 2008: the rate rose 19.0% (+2.78¢/kWh), from 14.60¢ in April 2007 to 17.38¢ in April 2008. That is when the change happened; the series does not say what caused it.
- Against the rest of the country
- Over the same window the unweighted average across the 51 jurisdictions with data for this period rose 34.4%, so Alaska's +22.6% lagged the nationwide move by 11.8 percentage points. That gap is the part of the movement this dataset cannot attribute to a nationwide trend — it does not identify what else was involved.
- Rank among jurisdictions (May 2021 → May 2026)
- Measured over that identical five-year window, Alaska's change is the 39th largest of the 51 jurisdictions whose series covers it — rank 1 is the biggest increase, rank 51 the biggest decrease. The rank places the movement; it does not explain it.
What can move rates in Alaska — context, not proof
A rate series shows what changed, not why. This dataset records Alaska's residential rate and nothing about what moved it, and no reviewed Alaska driver analysis is published yet — so this page makes no causal claim. The factors that generally move retail rates are documented separately.
The categories generally involved are generation mix, fuel costs, transmission and distribution investment, capacity markets, regulatory rate cases, demand growth, and weather-driven peaks. Which of them applies to Alaska, and by how much, is not something this price series can answer.
Alaska electricity price drivers · How generation and fuel costs feed into retail rates · How these figures are calculated
More Data & Comparisons
- Electricity inflation in Alaska — Price growth, trends, rankings
- Electricity cost in Alaska — Rates, value score, affordability
- Average electricity bill in Alaska — Monthly and annual bill estimates
- Alaska electricity rates — Statewide overview and how Alaska ranks
- Electricity cost calculator for Alaska — Usage-based estimates
- Full Alaska knowledge page — Rates, value score, affordability, trends
- All states price history
Frequently Asked Questions
- How much have electricity prices changed in Alaska?
- Electricity prices in Alaska have increased 22.6% over the past 5 years. The 1-year increase is 8.2%. The annualized 5-year increase is approximately 4.2% per year.
- What drove the change in Alaska electricity prices?
- Measured from EIA residential data, the Alaska rate rose 22.6% (+5.21¢/kWh), from 23.02¢ in May 2021 to 28.23¢ in May 2026. The series itself does not identify a cause, and no reviewed Alaska driver analysis is published yet, so no cause is claimed here.
- When were Alaska electricity rates highest and lowest?
- In EIA residential data covering January 2001 to May 2026, the Alaska rate was highest at 28.23¢/kWh in May 2026 and lowest at 11.22¢/kWh in January 2001. The most recent reading is 28.23¢/kWh in May 2026.