A report showed that around 27 percent of American households having difficulty meeting their energy needs. The personal-finance website WalletHub recently released its report on “2022’s Most & Least Energy-Expensive States.”
For a better understanding of Americans’ energy costs relative to their location and consumption habits, WalletHub compared the average monthly energy bills in each of the 50 states and the District of Columbia using a special formula that accounts for the following residential energy types: electricity, natural gas, motor fuel and home heating oil. The dollar amount attached to each state reflects the average monthly energy bill.
The most energy-expensive states were Wyoming ($738), Alaska ($625), North Dakota ($611), Connecticut ($611), Massachusetts ($577), Oklahoma ($576), Vermont ($571), New Hampshire ($550), Indiana ($550) and West Virginia ($537).
The least energy-expensive states were Oregon ($431), Arkansas ($430), California ($430), Louisiana ($419), Texas ($416), Arizona ($403), Kansas ($396), Nebraska ($390), New Mexico ($377) and the District of Columbia ($277).
The best versus worst facts showed:
- Hawaii having the lowest average monthly consumption of electricity per consumer, 507 kWh, which is 2.9 times lower than in Louisiana, the highest at 1,448 kWh.
- Louisiana having the lowest average retail price for electricity, $0.0967 per kWh, which is 3.1 times lower than in Hawaii, the highest at $0.3028 per kWh.
- Idaho having the lowest average residential price for natural gas, $6.73 per 1,000 cubic feet, which is 5.6 times lower than in Hawaii, the highest at $37.75 per 1,000 cubic feet.
- The District of Columbia having the lowest average monthly motor-fuel consumption per driver, 19.10 gallons, which is 3.9 times lower than in Wyoming, the highest at 75.31 gallons.
In Northeastern states, between 8 percent and 61 percent of households use heating oil to heat their homes, compared with less than 3 percent of households in the rest of the U.S.