What commercial electricity costs per square foot

By building type

The median surveyed building of each kind, priced at the US average commercial price and scaled for the size of a typical one of that kind. The bars show the median; the table adds the middle half. Select a type to estimate your own building.

1. 1Fast food or quick service$9.19
2. 2Grocery or convenience store$7.41
3. 3Any restaurant, café, bar or bakery$6.11
4. 4Sit-down restaurant or cafeteria$5.68
5. 5Hospital$4.00
6. 6Strip shopping centre$2.94
7. 7Nursing home or assisted living$2.89
8. 8Hotel, motel or inn$2.08
9. 9Medical, dental or outpatient clinic$1.91
10. 10Office building$1.54
11. 11College or university building$1.54
12. 12K-12 school$1.42
13. 13Retail store or showroom$1.35
14. 14Gym, fitness or recreation facility$1.29
15. 15Meeting, entertainment or other public assembly$1.20
16. 16Repair shop, salon, laundry or other service$0.95
17. 17Vehicle service or repair shop$0.69
18. 18Place of worship$0.63
19. 19Warehouse or distribution centre$0.50

Bars are the median cost per square foot a year. A type with fewer than 30 surveyed buildings is left out of the chart and marked in the table.

Download the kWh per square foot figures as CSV, with regional ranges. Cost per square foot is that figure times a price, so it moves with the price: the estimator redoes it for your state and size.

By state

Hold the building fixed at the survey's average, 12.6 kWh per square foot a year, and price it at each state's commercial average for the 12 months to August 2026. It runs from $0.96 in North Dakota to $5.08 in Hawaii. That is a comparison of prices only: a hotter or colder state, or an older building stock, would also change how much a building uses.

Prices are preliminary EIA data and are averages across every commercial customer in the state, so they are context, not a quote. Rates by state ranks them with the trend since 2010, and average bill by state shows what the average commercial account used and was billed.

What these numbers are, and are not

• Whole buildings, not tenant suites. The survey measured buildings classed by what fills the most floor space. A single suite in a larger building can cost more or less per square foot, especially where the landlord supplies the air conditioning.
• A range is the honest answer. Buildings of the same kind differ in hours, equipment, age and climate, which is why the table shows the middle half of surveyed buildings and not one figure.
• 2018 usage at today's prices. The survey is the latest EIA has published. It carries the usage pattern forward and does not adjust for efficiency or load changes since.
• Electricity only. Gas, fuel oil and district heat are separate costs and are not included here.

Common questions

What is the average electricity cost per square foot for a commercial building?

About $1.75 per square foot a year at the 13.87¢ US average commercial price for the 12 months to August 2026, for the average building in the U.S. Energy Information Administration's 2018 survey of 6,357 commercial buildings, which used 12.6 kWh per square foot. The median building used less, 8.6 kWh, which is about $1.19. The average is pulled up by a minority of heavy users such as restaurants, grocery stores and hospitals.

How much does electricity cost per square foot for a restaurant?

For a sit-down restaurant or cafeteria the median surveyed building used 37.1 kWh per square foot a year, about $5.68 per square foot at the US average price, with the middle half between $3.23 and $7.98. Food service and food sales (grocery and convenience stores) are the most electricity-intensive building types per square foot in the survey.

How much does electricity cost per square foot for an office?

The median surveyed office used 10.2 kWh per square foot a year, about $1.54 per square foot at the US average price, with the middle half between $0.93 and $2.38. Region matters: the survey's offices in the South had a median of 12.7 kWh per square foot a year against 8.1 in the Midwest.

Which state has the highest electricity cost per square foot for commercial buildings?

Holding usage at the surveyed average of 12.6 kWh per square foot, Hawaii is highest at about $5.08 per square foot a year because its commercial price, 40.31¢ per kWh, is the highest in the data, and North Dakota is lowest at about $0.96 at 7.58¢. This compares prices only; a state's climate and building stock change how much a building uses.

Where do these figures come from?

Usage is from the U.S. Energy Information Administration's 2018 Commercial Buildings Energy Consumption Survey public-use data, checked against EIA's own published tables. Prices are EIA's average commercial price for the 12 months to August 2026 from its monthly utility survey, scaled for building size using ratios from the same survey. They are context for reading a bill, not quotes.