Rhode Island · Competitive supply market
Commercial electricity in Rhode Island
Rhode Island commercial accounts may contract supply with a licensed nonregulated power producer while the utility keeps delivery. Last resort service applies by default.
What Rhode Island businesses pay for electricity
Average commercial electricity price in Rhode Island
23.60¢ per kWh
12 months to August 2026 · EIA, preliminary
- vs US average (13.87¢)+70%above the national figure
- vs previous 12 months+0.1%from 23.57¢
- Final 2025 (EIA-861)23.40¢3rd highest of 51 markets
- Average commercial customer4,718 kWha month, about 1,104 at the 2025 average
- Since 2020+47%US +26% over the same years
Show the numbers
| Period | Rhode Island | United States |
|---|---|---|
| 2010 | 13.10¢ | 10.19¢ |
| 2011 | 12.37¢ | 10.24¢ |
| 2012 | 11.87¢ | 10.09¢ |
| 2013 | 12.92¢ | 10.26¢ |
| 2014 | 14.56¢ | 10.74¢ |
| 2015 | 15.78¢ | 10.64¢ |
| 2016 | 14.88¢ | 10.43¢ |
| 2017 | 15.20¢ | 10.66¢ |
| 2018 | 16.58¢ | 10.67¢ |
| 2019 | 16.38¢ | 10.68¢ |
| 2020 | 15.94¢ | 10.59¢ |
| 2021 | 15.51¢ | 11.22¢ |
| 2022 | 16.23¢ | 12.41¢ |
| 2023 | 17.68¢ | 12.59¢ |
| 2024 | 21.09¢ | 12.75¢ |
| 2025 | 23.40¢ | 13.37¢ |
| 12 months to Aug 2026 (preliminary) | 23.60¢ | 13.87¢ |
Where the Rhode Island price goes
Where businesses buy energy from a competitive supplier, EIA reports the supplier's revenue and the utility's delivery revenue separately. In Rhode Island in 2025, 51% of the average commercial price was delivery — the part that does not change when you change supplier.
11.02¢ energy 11.61¢ delivery 78% of Rhode Island's commercial kWh is sold this way
This is the average revenue per kWh from every commercial customer in Rhode Island, from a corner shop to a hospital: energy, delivery, demand and other charges billed, divided by kWh sold. The average customer uses more than a typical small business, because a few very large customers pull the mean up. It is dated context for reading a bill — not a quote, not an available offer, and not what any one business pays.
What a typical building pays in Rhode Island
The same federal survey of commercial buildings behind the cost estimator, run for a typical-sized building of eight common kinds and priced at Rhode Island's average commercial price for the 12 months to August 2026. Typical size is the median floor area of the surveyed buildings of that kind, and the middle half is the range between the 25th and 75th percentile of them.
| Building | Typical size | Typical bill | Middle half | Survey basis |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Office building | 5,000 sq ft | $1,100 | $620 to $1,500 | 245 in the Northeast |
| Medical, dental or outpatient clinic | 5,500 sq ft | $1,500 | $890 to $2,300 | 257 nationwide |
| Retail store or showroom | 6,500 sq ft | $1,200 | $710 to $2,000 | 338 nationwide |
| Grocery or convenience store | 2,400 sq ft | $2,500 | $1,800 to $3,700 | 91 nationwide |
| Sit-down restaurant or cafeteria | 3,850 sq ft | $3,100 | $1,800 to $4,400 | 132 nationwide |
| Warehouse or distribution centre | 6,700 sq ft | $440 | $270 to $790 | 108 in the Northeast |
| Hotel, motel or inn | 12,000 sq ft | $3,500 | $2,200 to $5,200 | 304 nationwide |
| Gym, fitness or recreation facility | 8,300 sq ft | $1,500 | $1,100 to $2,900 | 148 nationwide |
A screening estimate, not a quote. The price is an average across every commercial customer in Rhode Island, scaled for building size, and the buildings are whole buildings from EIA's 2018 survey, so a suite inside a larger building, or one with unusual hours or equipment, can differ a lot. Estimate your own building in Rhode Island, or check a real bill.
What utilities billed commercial customers in Rhode Island
For each utility, EIA records how many commercial customers it had in 2025 and the average revenue per kWh it billed them. All 2 Rhode Island utilities with 500 or more commercial customers are shown.
| Utility | Type | Bundled customers | Bundled price per kWh | Delivery-only customers | Delivery-only price per kWh |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| The Narragansett Electric Co | Investor-owned | 35,997 | 26.82¢ | 27,569 | 11.61¢ |
| Clear River Electric and Water District | Municipal | 547 | 20.05¢ | 0 | — |
Together they serve about 99% of Rhode Island’s 64,502 commercial customers. All Rhode Island commercial customers together averaged 23.40¢ per kWh in 2025.
Bundled is the price paid by commercial customers who buy their energy and delivery from the utility, so it is an all-in price. Delivery-only is what the utility billed customers who buy their energy from a competitive supplier, so it is the delivery charge alone and cannot be compared with a bundled price. Each figure averages every commercial customer of that utility and service type, from a corner shop to a campus, so a utility with larger customers averages a lower price per kWh. It is dated context, not a quote and not an offer, and the utility that serves an address is named on its bill.
Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration, Form EIA-861, 2025 final data. Utilities across the country · every utility as a CSV.
Rhode Island commercial accounts may contract supply with a licensed nonregulated power producer while the utility keeps delivery. The local utility continues to own delivery, metering and outage response under regulated tariffs that no supplier can change. Eligibility is confirmed from the account and its utility territory, never from a ZIP code.
Source: Rhode Island Public Utilities Commission market structure; this site's market registry · 2026-10-31
Competitive supply market. Small market; confirm supplier appetite before publishing an RFP CTA.
What a Rhode Island commercial account can actually do
Eligible commercial accounts in Rhode Island can award a supply contract to a licensed supplier. The local utility continues to deliver the power, own the meter and restore outages, and continues to charge for that under a regulated tariff that no supplier can change.
That means two separate pieces of work, and the second is the one most buyers never get done:
- The supply decision. Run a real, time-boxed competition among qualified suppliers on identical verified facts, then hold the contract to what was awarded.
- The regulated half. Rate schedule fit, demand charges, ratchet exposure, power factor and billing accuracy. No supplier earns anything here, which is precisely why no supplier raises it.
Where Rhode Island sits
Every US market on one view, coloured by what an account can actually do there. Rhode Island is highlighted, and every other tile is a link.
- 14 you can choose — businesses can pick their supplier
- 6 some can choose — by size, cap or program
- 31 utility only — other charges can still be fixed
Number on each tile: average commercial electricity price in cents per kWh, 12 months to August 2026 (EIA, preliminary).
Before we can answer anything specific
We verify from the account, not from the address alone:
- The utility territory actually serving the service address
- The account identifier and customer class
- Current supply arrangement, including any aggregation and its termination status
- Contract expiry date and whether the decision window is open
- 12 months of consumption and, where metered, peak demand
Supplier comparison is not open in Rhode Island yet. The free bill check shows how much of your bill a supplier could even touch and what is worth a look today, which is the same first step whichever way you go.