Washington · Regulated — advisory only
Commercial electricity in Washington
Washington commercial accounts buy supply from their regulated utility or public utility district. Tariff fit and demand management are the levers.
What Washington businesses pay for electricity
Average commercial electricity price in Washington
11.65¢ per kWh
12 months to August 2026 · EIA, preliminary
- vs US average (13.87¢)−16%below the national figure
- vs previous 12 months+10.6%from 10.53¢
- Final 2025 (EIA-861)10.97¢16th lowest of 51 markets
- Average commercial customer6,841 kWha month, about 750 at the 2025 average
- Since 2020+23%US +26% over the same years
Show the numbers
| Period | Washington | United States |
|---|---|---|
| 2010 | 7.37¢ | 10.19¢ |
| 2011 | 7.49¢ | 10.24¢ |
| 2012 | 7.68¢ | 10.09¢ |
| 2013 | 7.78¢ | 10.26¢ |
| 2014 | 7.97¢ | 10.74¢ |
| 2015 | 8.22¢ | 10.64¢ |
| 2016 | 8.43¢ | 10.43¢ |
| 2017 | 8.57¢ | 10.66¢ |
| 2018 | 8.72¢ | 10.67¢ |
| 2019 | 8.75¢ | 10.68¢ |
| 2020 | 8.92¢ | 10.59¢ |
| 2021 | 9.14¢ | 11.22¢ |
| 2022 | 9.49¢ | 12.41¢ |
| 2023 | 9.92¢ | 12.59¢ |
| 2024 | 9.99¢ | 12.75¢ |
| 2025 | 10.97¢ | 13.37¢ |
| 12 months to Aug 2026 (preliminary) | 11.65¢ | 13.87¢ |
This is the average revenue per kWh from every commercial customer in Washington, 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 Washington
The same federal survey of commercial buildings behind the cost estimator, run for a typical-sized building of eight common kinds and priced at Washington'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 | $510 | $290 to $760 | 306 in the West |
| Medical, dental or outpatient clinic | 5,500 sq ft | $610 | $430 to $1,000 | 67 in the West |
| Retail store or showroom | 6,500 sq ft | $660 | $290 to $1,200 | 72 in the West |
| Grocery or convenience store | 2,400 sq ft | $1,200 | $870 to $1,800 | 91 nationwide |
| Sit-down restaurant or cafeteria | 3,850 sq ft | $1,500 | $870 to $2,100 | 132 nationwide |
| Warehouse or distribution centre | 6,700 sq ft | $290 | $120 to $580 | 161 in the West |
| Hotel, motel or inn | 12,000 sq ft | $1,900 | $1,300 to $2,400 | 77 in the West |
| Gym, fitness or recreation facility | 8,300 sq ft | $750 | $560 to $1,400 | 148 nationwide |
A screening estimate, not a quote. The price is an average across every commercial customer in Washington, 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 Washington, or check a real bill.
What utilities billed commercial customers in Washington
For each utility, EIA records how many commercial customers it had in 2025 and the average revenue per kWh it billed them. The 10 largest of 34 Washington 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Puget Sound Energy Inc | Investor-owned | 143,846 | 15.66¢ | 103 | 3.84¢ |
| City of Seattle | Municipal | 52,680 | 12.48¢ | 0 | — |
| PUD No 1 of Snohomish County | Political subdivision | 35,181 | 9.90¢ | 0 | — |
| Avista Corp | Investor-owned | 27,317 | 14.30¢ | 0 | — |
| PUD No 1 of Clark County | Political subdivision | 20,659 | 8.76¢ | 0 | — |
| City of Tacoma | Municipal | 20,005 | 10.65¢ | 0 | — |
| PacifiCorp | Investor-owned | 17,570 | 13.21¢ | 0 | — |
| PUD No 2 of Grant County | Political subdivision | 8,216 | 4.20¢ | 0 | — |
| PUD No 1 of Benton County | Political subdivision | 6,865 | 7.24¢ | 0 | — |
| PUD No 1 of Chelan County | Political subdivision | 6,598 | 4.46¢ | 0 | — |
Together the 10 shown serve about 84% of Washington’s 405,678 commercial customers, and all 34 serve about 98%. All Washington commercial customers together averaged 10.97¢ 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.
Washington commercial accounts buy supply from their regulated utility or public utility district. There is no competitive retail supply market for general commercial accounts, so no supplier comparison exists to run in Washington. Controllable cost sits in utility rate schedule fit, demand charges, billing accuracy and efficiency instead.
Source: Washington Utilities and Transportation Commission market structure; this site's market registry · 2026-10-31
Regulated — no supply choice. No supplier-shopping claim.
What a Washington commercial account can actually do
There is no competitive retail supply market for general commercial accounts in Washington. Any site offering to compare supplier rates for a Washington commercial account is describing something that does not exist, and the lead form behind that offer is the product.
The cost is still controllable. It is just controlled through the tariff rather than through a contract:
- Rate schedule fit. Utility rate schedules are designed around assumed load shapes. An account whose actual shape has drifted from the schedule it sits on can be paying a demand rate built for a much steadier consumer, or a volumetric rate built for a much peakier one. Correcting it is computed from your own usage against a publicly filed alternative tariff, so you or your accountant can verify it.
- Demand charges and ratchet exposure. Frequently the largest controllable line on a Washington commercial bill. A ratchet clause means one high interval can set a billing floor for months afterwards, and the recovery date is worth knowing before you plan any load addition.
- Billing accuracy. Meter multipliers, customer classification errors and misapplied riders are more common than most operators expect, and they compound silently because nobody re-reads a bill that looks familiar.
- Efficiency and load management, including any WUTC-approved utility program the account already qualifies for and is not claiming.
None of that requires a supply market, which is why this work is available in Washington on exactly the same terms as in a competitive state. It is also work no supplier would ever raise with you, because there is no supply commission attached to any of it.
Where Washington sits
Every US market on one view, coloured by what an account can actually do there. Washington 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
There is no supply contract to shop in this market. We work on rate schedule fit, demand charges, billing accuracy and efficiency instead.