Planned capacity
planned facility power, all published states32.6 GW
Live chart · updates with every published snapshot
Cheapest industrial power for data centers
The lowest statewide average industrial electricity rate in the U.S., the benchmark power price for siting AI data centers.
industrial retail rate, lowest-cost state4.62¢ / kWh+0.17¢/kWhin New Mexico
Behind the number
The full field
- New Mexico4.62¢
- Texas6.58¢
- Montana6.68¢
- Louisiana6.69¢
- Tennessee6.87¢
- Arkansas7.08¢
- Kentucky7.15¢
- Washington7.20¢
- Oklahoma7.37¢
- South Carolina7.55¢
- Arizona7.73¢
- North Carolina7.87¢
The board in rank order. The headline number is the top-ranked row, highlighted. Showing the top 12 of 51 ranked entries.
| Rank | Entry | industrial retail rate, lowest-cost state |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | New Mexico | 4.62¢ / kWh |
| 2 | Texas | 6.58¢ / kWh |
| 3 | Montana | 6.68¢ / kWh |
| 4 | Louisiana | 6.69¢ / kWh |
| 5 | Tennessee | 6.87¢ / kWh |
| 6 | Arkansas | 7.08¢ / kWh |
| 7 | Kentucky | 7.15¢ / kWh |
| 8 | Washington | 7.20¢ / kWh |
| 9 | Oklahoma | 7.37¢ / kWh |
| 10 | South Carolina | 7.55¢ / kWh |
| 11 | Arizona | 7.73¢ / kWh |
| 12 | North Carolina | 7.87¢ / kWh |
Over time
How the number has moved
View chart data
| As of | industrial retail rate, lowest-cost state |
|---|---|
| Jun 30, 23:59 UTC | 4.62¢ / kWh |
| May 31, 23:59 UTC | 4.45¢ / kWh |
About this metric
Electricity is the largest recurring input cost of an AI data center, and industrial retail rates vary several-fold between U.S. states. This chart tracks the floor: the cheapest statewide average industrial rate in the country, along with which state currently holds it.
Rates are monthly statewide average retail prices to ultimate industrial customers as reported by the U.S. Energy Information Administration, in cents per kilowatt-hour. A statewide industrial average is not a negotiated data-center tariff, but it is the consistent public benchmark siting teams start from, published on the same basis for all fifty states.
A few tenths of a cent per kilowatt-hour compounds into tens of millions of dollars a year at gigawatt scale, which is why capacity announcements cluster in cheap-power states. Read this line against the planned-capacity chart: power price is the strongest single predictor of where the next wave of facilities lands.
Related charts