Electricity Price History in Illinois
Illinois residential electricity averaged 19.22¢/kWh in July 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 Illinois prices. Data comes from EIA residential retail sales.
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Price Trend
Illinois electricity rates by year
| Year | Average rate | Change (¢/kWh) | Change (%) | Compared with |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 (Jan–Jul) | 19.50 ¢/kWh | +2.04 | +11.7% | Jan–Jul 2025 (17.45¢) |
| 2025 | 17.78 ¢/kWh | +1.83 | +11.5% | 2024 (15.96¢) |
| 2024 | 15.96 ¢/kWh | +0.07 | +0.4% | 2023 (15.89¢) |
| 2023 | 15.89 ¢/kWh | +0.23 | +1.5% | 2022 (15.65¢) |
| 2022 | 15.65 ¢/kWh | +2.36 | +17.8% | 2021 (13.29¢) |
| 2021 | 13.29 ¢/kWh | +0.13 | +1.0% | 2020 (13.17¢) |
| 2020 | 13.17 ¢/kWh | +0.02 | +0.1% | 2019 (13.15¢) |
| 2019 | 13.15 ¢/kWh | +0.32 | +2.5% | 2018 (12.83¢) |
| 2018 | 12.83 ¢/kWh | −0.21 | −1.6% | 2017 (13.04¢) |
| 2017 | 13.04 ¢/kWh | +0.42 | +3.4% | 2016 (12.62¢) |
| 2016 | 12.62 ¢/kWh | +0.04 | +0.3% | 2015 (12.58¢) |
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 Illinois?
What the EIA series shows
- Past 12 months (July 2025 → July 2026)
- The Illinois residential rate rose 11.6% (+2.00¢/kWh), from 17.22¢ in July 2025 to 19.22¢ in July 2026.
- Past 5 years (July 2021 → July 2026)
- The rate rose 51.6% (+6.54¢/kWh), from 12.68¢ in July 2021 to 19.22¢ in July 2026.
- Past 10 years (July 2016 → July 2026)
- The rate rose 55.6% (+6.87¢/kWh), from 12.35¢ in July 2016 to 19.22¢ in July 2026.
- Highest and lowest month on record
- In this series the Illinois rate peaked at 23.85¢/kWh in May 2026 and bottomed at 7.27¢/kWh in January 2005. The series covers January 2001 to July 2026.
- Steepest 12-month increase
- The largest single-year move in the series ended in November 2007: the rate rose 36.0% (+2.80¢/kWh), from 7.78¢ in November 2006 to 10.58¢ in November 2007. 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 33.7%, so Illinois's +51.6% outpaced the nationwide move by 17.8 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 (July 2021 → July 2026)
- Measured over that identical five-year window, Illinois's change is the 7th 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 Illinois — context, not proof
A rate series shows what changed, not why. This dataset records Illinois's residential rate and nothing about what moved it, and no reviewed Illinois 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 Illinois, and by how much, is not something this price series can answer.
Illinois electricity price drivers · How generation and fuel costs feed into retail rates · How these figures are calculated
More Data & Comparisons
- Electricity inflation in Illinois — Price growth, trends, rankings
- Electricity cost in Illinois — Rates, value score, affordability
- Average electricity bill in Illinois — Monthly and annual bill estimates
- Illinois electricity rates — Statewide overview and how Illinois ranks
- Electricity cost calculator for Illinois — Usage-based estimates
- Full Illinois knowledge page — Rates, value score, affordability, trends
- All states price history
Frequently Asked Questions
- How much have electricity prices changed in Illinois?
- Electricity prices in Illinois have increased 51.6% over the past 5 years. The 1-year increase is 11.6%. The annualized 5-year increase is approximately 8.7% per year.
- What drove the change in Illinois electricity prices?
- Measured from EIA residential data, the Illinois rate rose 51.6% (+6.54¢/kWh), from 12.68¢ in July 2021 to 19.22¢ in July 2026. The series itself does not identify a cause, and no reviewed Illinois driver analysis is published yet, so no cause is claimed here.
- When were Illinois electricity rates highest and lowest?
- In EIA residential data covering January 2001 to July 2026, the Illinois rate was highest at 23.85¢/kWh in May 2026 and lowest at 7.27¢/kWh in January 2005. The most recent reading is 19.22¢/kWh in July 2026.