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Skyrocketing California electricity costs among highest in US

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Cite

Choi, J. (2026, September 22). Skyrocketing California electricity costs among highest in US. New York Post. https://nypost.com/2026/09/21/us-news/soaring-california-electricity-costs-among-highest-rates-in-us/

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New York Post · collected 2026-09-22 · by Justin Choi

Quick Summary

Californians pay the highest electricity prices in the United States, with an average cost of 27.63 cents per kilowatt-hour (kWh) in 2025, nearly double the national average of 13.63 cents. The Institute for Energy Research and Always on Energy Research created a website called Blue States, High Rates that maps electricity prices across all states; California ranks second overall due to recent increases since 2018. The analysis attributes these high costs partly to early adoption of aggressive renewable energy mandates and notes political patterns correlating higher rates with Democratic-voting states.
Written by AI on 2026-09-22, from this article's own text only (the story summary below draws on all the coverage).

AI analysis

Story summary

Californians pay 27.63 cents per kilowatt-hour for electricity in 2025, which is more than double the national average of 13.63 cents. According to The Institute for Energy Research's "Blue States, High Rates" website, California has seen its retail price of electricity rise by 11.05 cents per kWh since 2018, making it the largest increase among all states and pushing it from being the 7th most expensive state in terms of electricity to the 2nd most expensive. The analysis suggests that aggressive mandates adopted early in California are now showing results, leading to significantly higher costs for residents compared to other states.

Written for “California Electricity Costs Rising” on 2026-10-31, grounded in this article and the 0 other(s) covering the same event.

Story

📰 California Electricity Costs Rising
Economy/Business · 1 article(s) covering the same event.

Compared with similar articles

This article reads unscored and hedges 8% of its claims. Each row says how that neighbour differs.
New York Post
Hedges 4 of 35 claims Outlet record 66/100
“Article A discusses a specific city's policy on data centers and its impact on local utility rates, while Article B covers statewide electricity costs in California.”
New York Post
Hedges 6 of 26 claims Outlet record 66/100
“The articles discuss different economic burdens in California: one focuses on commuting costs including time and fuel expenses, while the other addresses electricity prices.”
New York Post
Hedges 4 of 12 claims Outlet record 66/100
“The articles discuss different aspects of energy costs in California: one focuses on high electricity prices, while the other reports on a new fuel blend aimed at reducing gasoline prices.”
How this article was measured signals, leaning charts, publisher record, byline, topics and claims

Signals How these are calculated →

Claims extracted
12
sentences that state something as happening or true
Uncertain
8%
1 of 12 hedged ("reportedly", "may", "according to")
Leaning
withheld
no quote in the article backed the model's score
Publisher signals
66/100
New York Post's corrections and hedging, across everything collected from it. Not a measure of accuracy.
Outlets on this story
1
Economy/Business
Same framing elsewhere
1
articles that frame the event the way this one does
Analyzed 2026-09-22 · how these are computed

How this is being covered How these are calculated →

Article leaning vs. publisher reliability
Source leaning vs. consistency

Publisher

New York Post · 15592 article(s) · 35 correction(s) detected
Running correction rate · 35 correction(s)

Who wrote this

Justin Choi
61 article(s) here · 0 carrying a prediction
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Also by Justin Choi
Nothing else under this byline is closely related to this article, so these are simply their most recent.
All 61 articles by Justin Choi →

Topics

California Californians The Institute for Energy Research U.S. the District of Columbia

Subjects

California GPE · 6× Californians NORP · 1× Democratic NORP · 1× Hawaii ORG · 1× North Dakota GPE · 1× RTOs ORG · 1× Republican NORP · 1× The Institute for Energy Research ORG · 1× U.S. GPE · 1× the District of Columbia GPE · 1×

Narrative

California’s average price was 27.63 cents per kilowatt-hours (kWh) in 2025, which was 103 percent higher than the national average of 13.63 cents. “The state’s trajectory is alarming: since 2018, the average retail price of electricity rose 11.05 cents per kWh, the largest absolute increase of any state, and California collapsed from 7th to 2nd-most expensive,” the website wrote.
framing: assertive · carried by 1 article(s) · first seen 2026-09-22
2026-09-22 · New York Post
Skyrocketing California electricity costs among highest in US · assertive framing

Claims (12 extracted, 1 hedged)

A new analysis found Californians pay the highest electricity prices in the whole country, more than double the national average. asserted
Californians → find → country
The Institute for Energy Research and Always on Energy Research created a website called Blue States, High Rates, featuring a nationwide map that shows California second for the most expensive electricity prices. asserted
California → create → prices
California’s average price was 27.63 cents per kilowatt-hours (kWh) in 2025, which was 103 percent higher than the national average of 13.63 cents. “The state’s trajectory is alarming: since 2018, the average retail price of electricity rose 11.05 cents per kWh, the largest absolute increase of any state, and California collapsed from 7th to 2nd-most expensive,” the website wrote. asserted
website → rise → expensive
“After adjusting for inflation, California’s prices rose 29.9% since 2018. asserted
prices → adjust → 2018
States that adopted aggressive mandates later are catching up. asserted
that → adopt → mandates
California, having adopted them first, is showing the rest of the U.S. where those mandates lead,” they added on. asserted
they → adopt → U.S.
The interactive map breaks down all 50 states –– including the District of Columbia –– and 10 regional transmission organizations (RTO). asserted
map → break → Columbia
RTOs are an independent, nonprofit group that operates and manages a multi-state electric power grid and wholesale electricity markets. asserted
that → operate → grid
Six criteria such as access to natural gas and the state’s net-zero goals for greenhouse gas emissions were used to create the map. asserted
criteria → use → map
Hawaii was ranked first with 35.72 cents per kWh while North Dakota was last with 8.2 cents per kWh. “Eighty-six percent of continental states with electricity prices above the national average voted Democratic in both 2020 and 2024, while 90 percent of the ten cheapest states voted Republican in both elections,” the CEO of Always on Energy Research Amy Cooke said. asserted
CEO → rank → Research
“Blue States, High Rates captures what we’ve been saying for years: bad energy policy leads to higher electricity rates,” Cooked continued. asserted
Cooked → capture → rates
With over 39 million people calling California their home, the Golden State has had electricity rates being at least 10% higher than the rest of the country since the late 1980s, according to the Public Policy Institute of California. uncertain
rates → call → California
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