January 2026

Summary and Insights

Electricity. In October 2025, average residential electricity price in New York was 26.95 cents per kilowatt-hour (kWh) and ranked 8th highest in the U.S., exceeding the national average by 50 percent. New York’s prices fell by 1 percent compared to September, but remained 7.6 percent higher than 12 months ago.

Natural Gas. Average residential natural gas prices in New York were $23.93 per thousand cubic feet, ranking 17th highest nationally and 22 percent above the U.S. average. New York’s prices fell 10 percent compared to the previous month. Yet natural gas prices remained 7.5 percent higher compared to 12 months ago, reflecting the general trend across the nation.

Affordability. Compared to the U.S. average, New York’s residential consumers pay substantially more for electricity, while gas prices remain closer to the national norm.

Trends. Historically, New York’s average prices for both electricity and natural gas were higher than the U.S. average, but the price differences were declining over the past couple of decades. However, since the 2019–2020 period, electricity prices in New York have steadily diverged upward from the national average, reversing the previous trend of convergence. More importantly, this upward movement has not been observed in prices for natural gas.

Data. Average residential prices are approximations, calculated from revenues and volumes of residential sales, not actual retail prices. See notes at the bottom of the report for more information.

Electricity

In October 2025, New York ranked 8th among all states for the highest average residential electricity price. At 26.95 cents per kWh, this was 50 percent above the U.S. average.

New York vs. Largest States. Compared to the largest states, New York’s average residential electricity price was significantly higher than in Florida and Texas, but lower than in California.

New York vs. Neighboring States. Among neighboring states, New York’s price was higher than in New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Vermont, but lower than in Connecticut and Massachusetts.

Month-on-Month Change. In October 2025, New York’s price fell by 1 percent compared to September.

Year-on-Year Change. However, compared to October 2024, the price rose by 7.6 percent, faster than the U.S. average. While prices increased even more in Florida, Pennsylvania, and New Jersey, they remain significantly lower than in New York.

Intermediate-term. Since 2019, average prices have risen by 45 percent. This rate of increase is similar to neighboring states but 5 percentage points higher than the U.S. average and significantly higher than in Florida or Texas.

Prices in New York have consistently exceeded the U.S. average. For two decades the gap narrowed steadily—from 80 percent in 2001 to 40 percent by 2019–2020. Since then, the convergence has reversed. As of October 2025, New York’s average residential electricity price is 50 percent higher than the national average. In dollar terms, the gap began widening after 2019–2020 and has nearly doubled since. As of October 2025, the price difference is higher than in 2019 or even 2001.

Natural Gas

In October 2025, New York had the 17th highest average residential natural gas price among the 50 states, 22 percent higher than the U.S. average.

New York vs. Neighboring States. Among neighboring states, New York’s price was higher than in New Jersey or Pennsylvania.

Month-on-Month Change. In October 2025, New York’s price fell by 10 percent compared to September. However, this was less than the 20 percent price decrease nationwide

Year-on-Year Change. However, compared to October 2024, the price rose by 7.5 percent, faster than the U.S. average, but slower than in neighboring states.

Intermediate-term. Since 2019, average prices in New York have risen by 42 percent, a slower increase than the U.S. average or most neighboring states, except Pennsylvania.

Overall, average residential gas prices in New York remain close to the national average, with a typical difference of about 15 percent. This price gap has narrowed over the past two decades, moving New York even closer to the U.S. average.

Data notes. As the U.S. Energy Information Administration states, “EIA does not directly collect retail electricity rates or prices. However, using data collected on retail sales revenues and volumes, we calculate average retail revenues per kWh as a proxy for retail rates and prices. Retail sales volumes are presented as a proxy for end-use electricity consumption.” Similarly, for natural gas, EIA claims, “Price data are representative of prices for gas sold and delivered to residential, commercial, and industrial consumers. These prices do not reflect average prices of natural gas transported to consumers for the account of third parties or “spot-market” prices… All average prices… are computed by dividing the reported revenue by its associated sales volume.”