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How to read your electric bill, line by line

By Kyle Tice · Updated October 2026

An electric bill has two numbers that drive everything: how many kilowatt-hours (kWh) you used and what you were charged per kWh. Everything else is a fixed charge, a surcharge or a tax layered on top. Here is how to find each one.

Step 1: find your kWh

Look for a usage section with a previous and current meter reading, or a bar chart of the last 12 months. The difference between the readings is your kWh for the billing period. The average U.S. home used about 865 kWh a month in 2024, according to EIA, but Florida and Texas homes average over 1,000 and California and Maine homes about 500 to 550. Write your number down; you will need it for the estimator on your utility’s page.

Step 2: the customer charge

This is the flat monthly fee you pay for being connected, regardless of usage. It goes by many names: basic service charge, customer charge, meter charge, Base Services Charge. Examples in effect now:

• FPL (Florida): $10.52 a month on the standard RS-1 rate.
• Duke Energy Carolinas (North Carolina): $14.00 a month since January 1, 2026.
• ComEd (Illinois): $15.26 plus a $3.81 metering charge for a single-family home.
• PG&E (California): a $24 Base Services Charge since March 2026, with lower per-kWh prices to match.

If this number is going up in your state, read Fixed charges are the new rate increase.

Step 3: the energy charge (and whether it is tiered or timed)

The energy charge is the per-kWh price for the power itself. It can be flat (Duke Carolinas: 12.2603 cents), tiered by usage (FPL: 7.865 cents for the first 1,000 kWh, 8.865 cents above; PG&E E-1: 33 cents up to baseline, 41 cents above), or time-of-use (a different price by hour; see our TOU guide).

Step 4: delivery versus supply

In the 14 or so states with retail choice (Texas, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Illinois, New York, Maryland, New Jersey, Connecticut, Massachusetts and others), the bill is split in two:

• Delivery (distribution and transmission) is set by your utility’s rate cases and cannot be shopped.
• Supply (generation) is either the utility’s default price or a competitive supplier’s price.

At ComEd, for example, delivery was 6.228 cents per kWh plus the customer charge in 2026, and the default supply price was 9.66 cents from January to May and 10.399 cents from June. If a supplier name you do not recognize appears in the supply section, you have been switched; see how to shop without getting burned.

Step 5: fuel or purchased power adjustment

Most regulated utilities pass through the cost of natural gas, coal and purchased power in a separate line that resets once or twice a year without a full rate case. FPL’s fuel charge is 2.893 cents per kWh for the first 1,000 kWh and 3.893 cents above in October 2026. Duke Energy’s June 2026 fuel adjustment added about $6.90 a month for Carolinas customers and $7.88 for Progress customers. This line moves with gas prices; nobody votes on it.

Step 6: riders

A rider is a separate surcharge for a cost regulators let the utility recover outside base rates. Common ones:

• Storm recovery. FPL charges a 0.995 cent Storm Protection charge per kWh; Duke Carolinas has a Storm Securitization rider; Georgia Power asked in 2026 to raise storm collections enough to add about $4.42 a month for a 1,000 kWh home, mostly for Hurricane Helene.
• Energy efficiency or conservation. Pays for rebate programs. FPL: 0.148 cents per kWh. Duke: an Energy Efficiency rider.
• Environmental. FPL: 0.345 cents per kWh. Georgia Power’s Environmental Compliance Cost was 6.6% of one customer’s bill.
• Nuclear. Georgia Power’s Nuclear Construction Cost Recovery rider for Plant Vogtle ran from 2011 until spring 2024 and is no longer collected; its cost now sits inside base rates.
• Renewable or clean energy. Duke Carolinas lists a Clean Energy Portfolio Standard rider on every residential bill.

Added together, riders and fuel commonly total 3 to 5 cents per kWh. They are the part of the bill most likely to change between rate cases.

Step 7: taxes and franchise fees

Cities charge utilities a franchise fee for using public rights-of-way, and the utility passes it through. On the Georgia Power bill above it was 1.1% of the total, with 7.4% sales tax on top. Some cities charge 3% to 5%. These lines are set by your city council and state legislature, not the utility commission.

Step 8: demand charges (rare at home, but check)

A demand charge bills your single highest hour of draw in the month, in dollars per kilowatt. It is standard for businesses and shows up on some residential plans in Arizona. APS’s optional 4 to 7 p.m. plan with demand charge pairs a lower energy rate with a per-kW charge; SRP requires a demand plan for solar customers. If you see “kW” rather than “kWh” on a line, that is a demand charge, and running the oven, dryer and AC at once for one hour can set it for the whole month.

How to spot a rate change

1. Find the rate schedule code near the top of the bill (RS-1, E-TOU-C, Schedule RS). If it changed, your plan changed.
2. Compare this month’s per-kWh energy charge and fuel line with the same lines on last month’s bill. Rate cases change the energy charge; fuel and riders change on set dates (June 1 at Duke and most PJM utilities, January 1 and March 1 at many others).
3. Read the bill message box. Utilities are required to notify you of approved changes there.
4. Check the docket. Find your utility from the state list; each page lists pending and approved cases with links to the filings.