Electricity Price History in North Dakota
North Dakota residential electricity averaged 13.61¢/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 North Dakota prices. Data comes from EIA residential retail sales.
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Price Trend
North Dakota electricity rates by year
| Year | Average rate | Change (¢/kWh) | Change (%) | Compared with |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 (Jan–May) | 12.09 ¢/kWh | +0.87 | +7.8% | Jan–May 2025 (11.22¢) |
| 2025 | 12.13 ¢/kWh | +0.35 | +3.0% | 2024 (11.77¢) |
| 2024 | 11.77 ¢/kWh | +0.54 | +4.8% | 2023 (11.24¢) |
| 2023 | 11.24 ¢/kWh | −0.02 | −0.1% | 2022 (11.25¢) |
| 2022 | 11.25 ¢/kWh | +0.16 | +1.4% | 2021 (11.09¢) |
| 2021 | 11.09 ¢/kWh | +0.45 | +4.2% | 2020 (10.64¢) |
| 2020 | 10.64 ¢/kWh | 0.00 | 0.0% | 2019 (10.64¢) |
| 2019 | 10.64 ¢/kWh | +0.13 | +1.2% | 2018 (10.52¢) |
| 2018 | 10.52 ¢/kWh | −0.07 | −0.7% | 2017 (10.58¢) |
| 2017 | 10.58 ¢/kWh | +0.19 | +1.8% | 2016 (10.40¢) |
| 2016 | 10.40 ¢/kWh | +0.51 | +5.2% | 2015 (9.89¢) |
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 North Dakota?
What the EIA series shows
- Past 12 months (May 2025 → May 2026)
- The North Dakota residential rate rose 3.9% (+0.51¢/kWh), from 13.10¢ in May 2025 to 13.61¢ in May 2026.
- Past 5 years (May 2021 → May 2026)
- The rate rose 13.8% (+1.65¢/kWh), from 11.96¢ in May 2021 to 13.61¢ in May 2026.
- Past 10 years (May 2016 → May 2026)
- The rate rose 23.8% (+2.62¢/kWh), from 10.99¢ in May 2016 to 13.61¢ in May 2026.
- Highest and lowest month on record
- In this series the North Dakota rate peaked at 13.71¢/kWh in June 2025 and bottomed at 5.60¢/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 October 2010: the rate rose 14.5% (+1.14¢/kWh), from 7.85¢ in October 2009 to 8.99¢ in October 2010. 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 North Dakota's +13.8% lagged the nationwide move by 20.6 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, North Dakota's change is the 48th 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 North Dakota — context, not proof
A rate series shows what changed, not why. This dataset records North Dakota's residential rate and nothing about what moved it, and no reviewed North Dakota 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 North Dakota, and by how much, is not something this price series can answer.
North Dakota electricity price drivers · How generation and fuel costs feed into retail rates · How these figures are calculated
More Data & Comparisons
- Electricity inflation in North Dakota — Price growth, trends, rankings
- Electricity cost in North Dakota — Rates, value score, affordability
- Average electricity bill in North Dakota — Monthly and annual bill estimates
- North Dakota electricity rates — Statewide overview and how North Dakota ranks
- Electricity cost calculator for North Dakota — Usage-based estimates
- Full North Dakota knowledge page — Rates, value score, affordability, trends
- All states price history
Frequently Asked Questions
- How much have electricity prices changed in North Dakota?
- Electricity prices in North Dakota have increased 13.8% over the past 5 years. The 1-year increase is 3.9%. The annualized 5-year increase is approximately 2.6% per year.
- What drove the change in North Dakota electricity prices?
- Measured from EIA residential data, the North Dakota rate rose 13.8% (+1.65¢/kWh), from 11.96¢ in May 2021 to 13.61¢ in May 2026. The series itself does not identify a cause, and no reviewed North Dakota driver analysis is published yet, so no cause is claimed here.
- When were North Dakota electricity rates highest and lowest?
- In EIA residential data covering January 2001 to May 2026, the North Dakota rate was highest at 13.71¢/kWh in June 2025 and lowest at 5.60¢/kWh in January 2001. The most recent reading is 13.61¢/kWh in May 2026.