Independent · sourced to the EIA
Electricity prices by state: how Pennsylvania, Ohio, New Jersey, Maryland, Virginia compare
All five states we cover are in the PJM grid — and all five have seen residential electricity prices climb sharply. Between 2019 and 2025 the average residential price rose between 27% and 48%, depending on the state. Here's the whole picture on one chart, with the outliers flagged.
- Pennsylvania 19.3¢/kWh
- Ohio 16.96¢/kWh
- New Jersey 22.63¢/kWh
- Maryland 19.48¢/kWh
- Virginia 15.28¢/kWh
What jumps out
Highest today
New Jersey
22.63¢/kWh
as of 2025
Biggest 5-year jump
Maryland
+48%
since 2019
Steepest single year
New Jersey
+17%
2024→2025
Smallest increase
Virginia
+27%
since 2019
The numbers, side by side
| State | 2019 | 2025 | 5-yr change | Real (inflation-adj.) | Steepest year |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| New Jersey | 15.85¢ | 22.63¢ | +43% | +13% | +17% (2025) |
| Maryland | 13.12¢ | 19.48¢ | +48% | +18% | +14.8% (2023) |
| Pennsylvania | 13.8¢ | 19.3¢ | +40% | +11% | +15.8% (2022) |
| Ohio | 12.38¢ | 16.96¢ | +37% | +9% | +11% (2023) |
| Virginia | 12.07¢ | 15.28¢ | +27% | +0% | +11.5% (2022) |
Prices are average annual residential rates. Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA). Real change adjusts for inflation using U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (CPI-U).
Why are they all rising together?
These aren't five separate stories. All five states are in PJM, the grid operator for the mid-Atlantic. PJM's capacity-auction prices have hit record highs — and PJM's own market monitor attributes a large share of that to surging data-center demand. Those wholesale costs flow into your rate. The part you can sometimes fix is whether a third-party supplier is charging you more than your utility's standard rate.
What is "PJM" and its "capacity market"? (plain English)
PJM is the independent operator that runs the high-voltage power grid for 13 states and Washington, D.C. — including yours. Think of it as air-traffic control for electricity: it doesn't own power plants or your wires, but it makes sure enough electricity is flowing across the whole region every second of the day. The wholesale costs PJM sets get passed through your utility into your bill.
The capacity market is a separate, once-a-year auction PJM runs. Instead of paying for electricity you use, it pays power plants just to promise they'll be ready on the few hottest or coldest days when demand peaks. That promise is called "capacity." It's like paying a backup generator a retainer to stay on standby — you pay even in months you never need it.
Why it matters now: when PJM expects demand to jump, those standby payments spike. Demand is jumping largely because of data centers, and PJM's recent capacity auctions hit record highs three times in a row. Utilities pass that cost straight to customers — which is a big reason bills across all five states we cover are rising. Sources: PJM; PJM Independent Market Monitor (Monitoring Analytics).
Common questions
- Which state has the highest electricity prices — Pennsylvania, Ohio, New Jersey, Maryland, Virginia?
- Of the five states we cover, New Jersey has the highest average residential price at 22.63¢/kWh (2025), and Virginia the lowest at 15.28¢/kWh. All five are in the PJM grid, so they share the same wholesale-capacity pressure.
- Which state's electricity prices rose the most since 2019?
- Maryland rose the most — up 48% from 2019 to 2025. Virginia rose the least, up 27%. The steepest single-year jump was New Jersey, +17% from 2024 to 2025.
- Why are electricity prices rising across all these states at once?
- All five states sit in the PJM grid. PJM's capacity-auction prices have hit record highs, and PJM's own market monitor attributes a large share of that to surging data-center demand. Those wholesale costs flow into the rates you pay — whether through your utility's regulated rate (Virginia) or its default-service price (the other four).
- Is this just inflation?
- Partly. We also show the inflation-adjusted (real) change using U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (CPI-U). In some states most of the nominal rise is inflation; in others — like Maryland — prices climbed well faster than inflation. Each state page breaks this down.