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Southeast energy costs: modest prices, heavy meters, pricey delivered gas
The Southeast — EIA's South Atlantic and East South Central Census divisions, twelve states plus the District of Columbia — runs the opposite energy economy from New England. Electricity prices sit at or below the national average in most of its states, yet usage is among the heaviest in the country, so bills land mid-pack. In July 2026 the South Atlantic division averaged 16.12¢ per kWh and the East South Central just 14.61¢, the lowest division price in the nation. The region's real premiums hide in delivered gas — up to $25.37 per Mcf in Florida — and in propane, where several states price far above the Midwest. This page stacks the two divisions state by state, from EIA's published tables only.
| State | Electricity 2024 | Avg use / month | Avg bill 2024 | Gas per Mcf |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alabama | 15.18¢ | 1,143 kWh | $173.50 | $18.63 |
| Delaware | 16.57¢ | 911 kWh | $150.87 | $14.78 |
| District of Columbia | 17.71¢ | 639 kWh | $113.23 | $16.49 |
| Florida | 14.14¢ | 1,104 kWh | $156.09 | $25.37 |
| Georgia | 14.08¢ | 1,074 kWh | $151.25 | $18.19 |
| Kentucky | 12.79¢ | 1,047 kWh | $133.81 | $13.61 |
| Maryland | 17.86¢ | 929 kWh | $165.87 | $16.14 |
| Mississippi | 13.39¢ | 1,156 kWh | $154.83 | $15.42 |
| North Carolina | 14.13¢ | 1,015 kWh | $143.50 | $16.42 |
| South Carolina | 14.23¢ | 1,050 kWh | $149.51 | $16.91 |
| Tennessee | 12.42¢ | 1,154 kWh | $143.32 | $10.75 |
| Virginia | 14.41¢ | 1,032 kWh | $148.77 | $15.40 |
| West Virginia | 15.07¢ | 1,027 kWh | $154.76 | $15.26 |
Electricity, use and bills: EIA-861 Table 5A (2024). Gas: Natural Gas Annual Table 23 (2024), residential delivered. The District of Columbia row is from the same EIA tables.
A division average can hide a five-cent spread between its states. Enter your own kWh, therms and gallons and price them at your state's published average rates.
Open the energy cost calculatorTwo divisions, one pattern: usage does the damage
Read the table by its usage column. Ten of the twelve states average more than 1,000 kWh a month, and the four heaviest users in America — Louisiana just outside this region at 1,202, then Mississippi 1,156, Tennessee 1,154 and Alabama 1,143 — are all Southeastern. That is the cooling load EIA's summer analysis describes, extended across a long humid season, plus widespread electric heating and heat pumps that keep the meter turning in winter too. Prices, by contrast, are gentle: Tennessee (12.42¢) and Kentucky (12.79¢) sit near the bottom of the national table, and only Maryland (17.86¢) and the District (17.71¢) price above the 16.48¢ U.S. average. The bills reconcile the two: Alabama's $173.50, the region's highest, is a usage bill (1,143 kWh at a middling 15.18¢), while the District's $113.23, the region's lowest, is an apartment-stock bill (639 kWh at an above-average price). RECS confirms the household totals are unremarkable — South Atlantic homes used 63.8 MMBtu a year and spent $1,850; East South Central homes 70.9 MMBtu and $1,882 — because the region's energy arrives mostly as reasonably priced electricity.
Gas and the delivered fuels: where the Southeast overpays
Delivered gas breaks the modest-price pattern. Every South Atlantic state prices gas above the $14.50 U.S. average — Delaware ($14.78) only just, and Florida's $25.37 per Mcf is the second-highest figure in the nation — thin gas networks serving few heating customers spread their costs over small volumes. The East South Central splits: Tennessee delivers the region's cheapest gas at $10.75, while Alabama pays $18.63. Propane, in EIA's October 19, 2026 survey week, priced at $4.928 in Florida (the survey's highest), $3.799 in Maryland, $3.760 in Virginia, $3.612 in North Carolina, $3.573 in Alabama, $3.219 in Tennessee, $3.212 in Georgia, $3.137 in Mississippi and $2.844 in Kentucky, against a $2.689 U.S. average — the Southeast buys propane at Northeast-like prices without the Northeast's excuse of distance from supply. Heating oil is surveyed in only five of these states (Delaware $6.431, Maryland $6.371, Virginia $6.003, North Carolina $5.828, Kentucky $5.890); for the rest, EIA publishes no state average and this site prints none. Propane is likewise unpublished for South Carolina and West Virginia — gaps stated here rather than filled. EIA's Winter Fuels Outlook forecasts South households to spend $511 (gas), $1,079 (electricity) and $1,164 (propane) this winter — the country's cheapest winter rows, because in the Southeast the expensive season is summer.
How to use this page
Start here for the regional shape, then go to your own state's guide for its full table and its deep-dives — Florida's electricity page in this series works the region's strangest fuel mix in detail. Division averages (South Atlantic 16.12¢, East South Central 14.61¢ in July 2026) are climate-and-market summaries, not prices anyone pays; the state rows are the usable figures, and even they blend every utility and home in the state. Prices are 2024 annual averages except where a July 2026 or October 2026 survey figure is labeled as such — compare like periods, and confirm the current rate on your own bill.
Sources: EIA — Electric Sales, Revenue & Average Price 2024, Table 5A (Form EIA-861) · EIA — Electric Power Monthly, Table 5.6.A (July 2026) · EIA — Natural Gas Annual 2024, Table 23 (Form EIA-176) · EIA — Heating Oil and Propane Update (week of October 19, 2026) · EIA — Winter Fuels Outlook, October 2026 · EIA — Residential Energy Consumption Survey (RECS) 2020, Table CE1.1. Last verified: October 2026 — energy prices move with seasons and markets; confirm the current rate on your own bill.
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Florida electricity cost in depth · Electricity prices by region · Summer cooling costs · Energy costs index — all 50 states · New England energy costs