Rick has given a lot of nice links. My reason for writing is to point out
the average over a state lets you observe a few things, such as how prices
in California and in the northeast are high... but be aware that within a
state the prices can fluctuate a lot.
The map is for 2003 and shows Ohio's average as 8.27 cents per kWhr. I
have all my records for the past 10 years or so, and in 2003 my electricity
rate was steady at 6.3 cents, about 25% lower than the state average.
That's a pretty big difference, and implies that some in the state had rates
considerably more than 8.27 cents.
It is interesting that my electricity rates were remarkably stable for over
10 years at about 6.3 cents per kWhr until the end of 2005 when they rose to
6.7 cents. Then over 2006 the rates went from 6.7 to 7.0 to 7.3
cents-per-kWhr which is where they are now. Thus, over a very long period
of time my rates only rose by a penny, but all that happened in the past 18
months.
Another interesting thing is that natural gas (which I heat with) went
through the roof, and it became less expensive to heat with resistance
electric heat than with natural gas... except natural gas is now starting to
go back down. For a while, in the winter, I told my wife there was little
need to turn off lights or other electric appliances because the heat from
them was cheaper than the heat from the furnace.
Michael D. Edmiston, Ph.D.
Professor of Chemistry and Physics
Bluffton University
1 University Drive
Bluffton, OH 45817
419.358.3270
edmiston@bluffton.edu