Electricity Price History in New Hampshire
New Hampshire residential electricity averaged 27.33¢/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 New Hampshire prices. Data comes from EIA residential retail sales.
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Price Trend
New Hampshire electricity rates by year
| Year | Average rate | Change (¢/kWh) | Change (%) | Compared with |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 (Jan–May) | 26.87 ¢/kWh | +3.49 | +14.9% | Jan–May 2025 (23.38¢) |
| 2025 | 24.70 ¢/kWh | +1.22 | +5.2% | 2024 (23.48¢) |
| 2024 | 23.48 ¢/kWh | −4.69 | −16.6% | 2023 (28.17¢) |
| 2023 | 28.17 ¢/kWh | +2.46 | +9.6% | 2022 (25.71¢) |
| 2022 | 25.71 ¢/kWh | +5.79 | +29.1% | 2021 (19.91¢) |
| 2021 | 19.91 ¢/kWh | +0.83 | +4.4% | 2020 (19.08¢) |
| 2020 | 19.08 ¢/kWh | −1.03 | −5.1% | 2019 (20.11¢) |
| 2019 | 20.11 ¢/kWh | +0.38 | +1.9% | 2018 (19.73¢) |
| 2018 | 19.73 ¢/kWh | +0.49 | +2.5% | 2017 (19.24¢) |
| 2017 | 19.24 ¢/kWh | +0.84 | +4.5% | 2016 (18.41¢) |
| 2016 | 18.41 ¢/kWh | −0.09 | −0.5% | 2015 (18.49¢) |
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 New Hampshire?
What the EIA series shows
- Past 12 months (May 2025 → May 2026)
- The New Hampshire residential rate rose 13.8% (+3.31¢/kWh), from 24.02¢ in May 2025 to 27.33¢ in May 2026.
- Past 5 years (May 2021 → May 2026)
- The rate rose 37.0% (+7.38¢/kWh), from 19.95¢ in May 2021 to 27.33¢ in May 2026.
- Past 10 years (May 2016 → May 2026)
- The rate rose 47.6% (+8.82¢/kWh), from 18.51¢ in May 2016 to 27.33¢ in May 2026.
- Highest and lowest month on record
- In this series the New Hampshire rate peaked at 32.26¢/kWh in September 2022 and bottomed at 11.26¢/kWh in September 2001. The series covers January 2001 to May 2026.
- Steepest 12-month increase
- The largest single-year move in the series ended in September 2022: the rate rose 56.1% (+11.60¢/kWh), from 20.66¢ in September 2021 to 32.26¢ in September 2022. 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 New Hampshire's +37.0% outpaced the nationwide move by 2.6 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, New Hampshire's change is the 16th 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 New Hampshire — context, not proof
A rate series shows what changed, not why. This dataset records New Hampshire's residential rate and nothing about what moved it, and no reviewed New Hampshire 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 New Hampshire, and by how much, is not something this price series can answer.
New Hampshire electricity price drivers · How generation and fuel costs feed into retail rates · How these figures are calculated
More Data & Comparisons
- Electricity inflation in New Hampshire — Price growth, trends, rankings
- Electricity cost in New Hampshire — Rates, value score, affordability
- Average electricity bill in New Hampshire — Monthly and annual bill estimates
- New Hampshire electricity rates — Statewide overview and how New Hampshire ranks
- Electricity cost calculator for New Hampshire — Usage-based estimates
- Full New Hampshire knowledge page — Rates, value score, affordability, trends
- All states price history
Frequently Asked Questions
- How much have electricity prices changed in New Hampshire?
- Electricity prices in New Hampshire have increased 37.0% over the past 5 years. The 1-year increase is 13.8%. The annualized 5-year increase is approximately 6.5% per year.
- What drove the change in New Hampshire electricity prices?
- Measured from EIA residential data, the New Hampshire rate rose 37.0% (+7.38¢/kWh), from 19.95¢ in May 2021 to 27.33¢ in May 2026. The series itself does not identify a cause, and no reviewed New Hampshire driver analysis is published yet, so no cause is claimed here.
- When were New Hampshire electricity rates highest and lowest?
- In EIA residential data covering January 2001 to May 2026, the New Hampshire rate was highest at 32.26¢/kWh in September 2022 and lowest at 11.26¢/kWh in September 2001. The most recent reading is 27.33¢/kWh in May 2026.