Original Analysis · California electricity prices by sector
Evidence and claims checked
Which California sectors had the highest electricity prices in May 2026?
A verified EIA comparison of California electricity prices by sector for May 2026.
Reader brief
What to know
residential had the highest reported price among 5 non-null sectors in May 2026: 33.25 cents per kilowatt-hour.
residential ranked first at 33.25 cents per kilowatt-hour among the reported California sectors.
all sectors ranked 2 at 26.27 cents per kilowatt-hour, 6.98 cents per kilowatt-hour below residential.
commercial ranked 3 at 24.1 cents per kilowatt-hour, 9.15 cents per kilowatt-hour below residential.
industrial ranked 4 at 20.2 cents per kilowatt-hour, 13.05 cents per kilowatt-hour below residential.
transportation ranked 5 at 17.51 cents per kilowatt-hour, 15.74 cents per kilowatt-hour below residential.
Summary facts
- Non-null sectors
- 5 sectors
Ranked items
| Rank | Item | Value |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | residential | 33.25 cents per kilowatt-hour |
| 2 | all sectors | 26.27 cents per kilowatt-hour |
| 3 | commercial | 24.1 cents per kilowatt-hour |
| 4 | industrial | 20.2 cents per kilowatt-hour |
| 5 | transportation | 17.51 cents per kilowatt-hour |
Source and methodology
California retail electricity prices by sector for one monthly EIA observation period.
- Source
- U.S. Energy Information Administration, Electricity retail sales API.
- Computation
- Retain California May 2026 price rows, exclude null prices, and sort remaining reported prices descending with sector id as tie-break.
Evidence and limitations
Evidence
- Source datasetMetrics: price
Caveats
- Measure: The EIA price measure is reported in cents per kilowatt-hour; it is not a causal explanation of price differences.
- Period: This is one month and does not establish a trend or forecast.
Claim boundaries
Supported by this story
- the supplied California sector names and May 2026 price values
- the deterministic order of non-null sectors
Not supported by this story
- causal explanations
- affordability or welfare conclusions
- trend or forecast claims
- claims about emissions or efficiency