The PJM region electricity rates
Across the 9 jurisdictions of The PJM region, residential electricity averages 21.02¢ per kilowatt-hour as of May 2026, 14% above the U.S. average of 18.44¢. The regional average bill is $164 a month at 864 kWh.
What binds these states together
PJM is the largest wholesale electricity market in the country, running from Illinois east to New Jersey and south to Virginia. The states inside it have almost nothing else in common: Illinois and Ohio are Midwestern, Maryland and the District are import-dependent, Pennsylvania is a large net exporter, West Virginia is a coal state.
What binds them is the market design. PJM runs an energy market, which pays generators for what they produce, and a capacity market, which pays them to be available whether or not they run. Utilities in these states buy default supply through auctions that price against both.
Most of these states restructured in the late 1990s, so their utilities are wires companies that no longer own generation. That makes them fully exposed to whatever the wholesale market does.
What is moving rates now
The capacity auction for the 2025/2026 delivery year cleared at a record price and the following year stayed high. Three things moved together: data-centre demand grew faster than forecast, older fossil plants retired, and new generation sat in an interconnection queue that takes years to clear.
The cost passed into default-service auctions and reached residential bills within months. Northern Illinois cleared higher still because it was treated as a separate constrained zone, which is why ComEd customers saw the sharpest single-year move in the country.
Virginia is where the underlying demand growth is most concentrated. Northern Virginia carries more data-centre capacity than any other region in the world, and the central regulatory question there is how much of the cost of serving it falls on other customers.
State by state
| State | May 2026 (¢/kWh) | May 2025 | Change | vs. U.S. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| District of Columbia | 25.40 | 20.43 | +24.3% | +37.7% |
| Illinois | 23.85 | 18.58 | +28.4% | +29.3% |
| New Jersey | 23.27 | 20.48 | +13.6% | +26.2% |
| Maryland | 21.77 | 19.00 | +14.6% | +18.1% |
| Pennsylvania | 21.55 | 19.29 | +11.7% | +16.9% |
| Ohio | 19.52 | 17.09 | +14.2% | +5.9% |
| Delaware | 19.38 | 18.13 | +6.9% | +5.1% |
| Virginia | 17.61 | 15.26 | +15.4% | -4.5% |
| West Virginia | 16.80 | 16.18 | +3.8% | -8.9% |
Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration, Electric Power Monthly, Table 5.6.A: Average Price of Electricity to Ultimate Customers by End-Use Sector, by State. Regional averages are unweighted means of the jurisdictions listed. Methodology
What it means for a household here
Because the increase arrived through supply rather than delivery, a fixed-price contract is a genuine hedge here in a way it is not in a delivery-driven region. Two cautions apply.
Ask whether capacity is included in a quoted rate. Some competitive contracts quote energy only and pass capacity through separately, which makes the headline look better than the bill will be. And check your municipality's aggregation programme first: Ohio and Illinois both have active ones that have generally beaten individual switching.
The PJM region electricity: common questions
What is the average electricity rate in The PJM region?
21.02¢ per kilowatt-hour as of May 2026, an unweighted average of the 9 jurisdictions covered. That is +14.0% against the U.S. average of 18.44¢.
Which The PJM region state has the cheapest electricity?
West Virginia at 16.80¢/kWh, against District of Columbia at 25.40¢ at the other end.
Did rates rise in The PJM region this year?
The regional average moved +14.8% from May 2025 to May 2026. Individual states varied: Illinois +28.4%, District of Columbia +24.3%, Virginia +15.4%.
How much do households in The PJM region spend on electricity?
The regional average bill is $164 a month at 864 kWh, measured across the twelve months to May 2026. The U.S. average is $155 at 871 kWh.