How to Read Your Electricity Bill

An original sample bill: 800 kWh, $130

Illustrative flat-rate example, created for this guide. These are not a utility’s offered prices or a copy of a customer bill. Your supplier may combine or rename these lines.

One current billing period. Excludes prior balances, payment plans, deposits and late fees.
Bill line	Example calculation	Charge	What to look for
Supply / generation	800 kWh × 9¢	$72.00	Electricity itself. A separate supplier may bill this part.
Delivery per kWh	800 kWh × 5¢	$40.00	Usage-based delivery. The word “delivery” does not make a charge fixed.
Other variable adjustment	800 kWh × 1¢	$8.00	Only adjustments not already included in supply or delivery. Some are credits.
Fixed customer charge	One billing period	$12.00	A charge independent of kWh in this example. Daily fees depend on billing days.
Other current charges	Entered dollar amount	$3.00	For example, remaining taxes or adjustments. Their tariff rules may depend on use.
Current-period credit	Subtract once	−$5.00	Do not subtract it again if it is already included in another line.
Current-period net cost		$130.00	Do not use an overdue total or a budget-plan payment as this period’s energy cost.

The effective rate is $130 ÷ 800 kWh = 16.25¢/kWh. The entered usage-based components add to 15¢/kWh. Avoiding 100 kWh saves $15 in this example when the other dollar amounts stay unchanged; it does not remove the $12 fixed charge.

Calculate from your bill’s line items

This calculator runs in your browser. Entries are not submitted, placed in the URL or saved by this page. No bill upload, account number or address is needed. This page does not load analytics.

Use one billing period and add each charge once. For a bundled price, put the whole variable price in supply and zero in delivery. Convert dollars/kWh to cents/kWh by multiplying by 100: $0.09/kWh is 9¢/kWh. For time-of-use, tiers, demand charges, net metering or minimum bills, consult the tariff; this flat-rate model cannot reproduce those rules.

Your current-period figures

Electricity purchased (kWh)

Use the kWh for the period, not the meter’s lifetime reading.

Supply price (cents/kWh)

Enter zero if supply is included in another entered variable price.

Delivery price (cents/kWh)

Usage-based delivery only; put fixed delivery fees below.

Other variable adjustment (cents/kWh)

May be negative for a per-kWh credit. Do not repeat included adjustments.

Fixed charges for this bill ($)

Use the actual period total, including any daily fixed fees.

Other current-period charges ($)

Remaining taxes or charges; held constant in the reduction example.

Current-period credits to subtract ($)

Enter a positive amount; held constant in the reduction example.

Electricity to avoid (kWh)

Between zero and this period’s entered kWh.

The starting values match the original sample above.

Your entered flat-rate scenario

current-period net cost

Effective rate
Entered variable rate
After the kWh reduction
Modeled cost reduction

Your entered charge breakdown
Component	Current period
Supply
Delivery
Variable adjustment
Fixed charge
Other charges
Credits (subtracted)

The reduction changes only the entered per-kWh components. Taxes, credits and other dollar amounts stay fixed here; update them yourself if your tariff changes them with usage. Demand, tier and minimum-charge effects are outside this model. Lines are rounded to cents; utility rounding can differ.

Change inputs

Which rate belongs in an appliance calculator?

For the extra cost of using an appliance, start with all tariff charges that change with the added kWh: supply, variable delivery and applicable adjustments or taxes. Fixed customer fees normally remain when an appliance is switched off. A per-kWh delivery charge still changes with usage.

An effective bill rate spreads the period’s net charges across its kWh. It helps describe that bill, but credits and fixed charges can make it a poor estimate of the cost of one more kWh. At zero kWh, an effective rate cannot be calculated even when fixed charges are due; a negative net bill reflects a credit balance.

EIA’s state average is utility revenue divided by electricity sold, including delivered-electricity costs and fees. It is a benchmark across customers and plans, not your tariff. Adding your fixed fee to that average can count fixed-charge revenue twice.

Estimate an appliance with your variable rate · Compare flat and time-of-use plans · Reported average bills by state

Sources and checks

Guide checked September 27, 2026. Example amounts and calculations are original illustrations; the links explain actual billing concepts.