Electricity Rate in South Carolina (2026): 15.55c/kWh Average
The EIA residential electricity price in South Carolina is 15.55 cents per kWh as of June 2026, 2.79c below the US average of 18.34c/kWh. The South Carolina commercial rate is 11.62c/kWh and the industrial rate is 7.55c/kWh (EIA Electric Power Monthly, Table 5.6.A).
South Carolina Electricity Rate: What You Need to Know
South Carolina electricity averages 15.55 cents per kWh for residential customers as of June 2026, according to the EIA Electric Power Monthly. This is 2.79c below the US average of 18.34c/kWh. The average monthly bill for South Carolina households is $159 based on typical usage of 1065 kWh.
South Carolina's 15.55c/kWh rate (June 2026) is below the US average of 18.34c, and the state leans on nuclear power more than almost anywhere else. Nuclear supplies roughly 54% of in-state generation - South Carolina is one of the top US nuclear producers - with natural gas near 22%, coal around 17%, and a small but rising solar share. Three large utilities serve the state, none offering residential retail choice: Dominion Energy South Carolina (the former SCE&G, bought by Dominion in 2019), Duke Energy Carolinas and Duke Energy Progress in the northwest, and Santee Cooper, the state-owned utility that wholesales to the electric cooperatives. The defining cost story is the abandoned V.C. Summer nuclear expansion: Dominion and Santee Cooper customers are still paying down roughly $2.3 billion in debt for two reactors that were never finished after the 2017 collapse of the project, a charge that continues for over a decade more. Looking forward, the South Carolina Energy Security Act (Act 41, signed 2025) authorized Dominion and Santee Cooper to jointly build a 2,180-MW natural gas plant at the retired Canadys coal site in Colleton County - a roughly $5 billion project the Public Service Commission approved in June 2026, targeting mid-2033 startup - and created a streamlined annual rate-adjustment mechanism that lets utilities recover such costs faster, which consumer advocates warn will push residential bills higher through the late 2020s.
Generation mix: Nuclear 54%, natural gas 22%, coal 17%, renewables 7%. The fuel mix is a primary driver of electricity rates - states with abundant hydro or nuclear tend to have lower rates, while states dependent on imported petroleum (Hawaii) or natural gas pay more.
Year-over-year change: South Carolina rates rose 5.1% year-over-year as of June 2026. This compares to the US average increase of 5% over the same period.
Regulated: You Cannot Switch Electricity Suppliers
Dominion Energy SC / Duke Energy Carolinas / Santee Cooper operates as the regulated utility in South Carolina. Retail electricity choice is not available for residential customers. Options for reducing your bill include: time-of-use rate optimization, energy efficiency upgrades, and rooftop solar.
Your South Carolina Electricity Bill Components
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Open Bill Calculator ->Electric Utilities in South Carolina: 46 Listed (2024 EIA-861)
EIA's Form 861 census records 46 entities with 2024 retail electricity sales in South Carolina: 29 distribution utilities filing the full form, 17 small utilities filing the short form (EIA-861S). By ownership: 21 municipal, 20 cooperative, 4 investor owned, 1 state. The state-wide average realised residential price in 2024 was 14.23 cents per kWh across 2,574,218 residential customers and 32,544,816 MWh of sales; EIA's latest monthly figure is 15.55c (June 2026). The largest utility by residential accounts served (bundled plus delivery-only) is Dominion Energy South Carolina, Inc with 696,385 (14.59c per kWh, 26.5% of state residential sales by MWh). 29 of the 29 distribution utilities have a detail page; the rest are listed here only.
| # | Utility | Ownership | Res. accounts | Residential | Commercial | Counties |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Dominion Energy South Carolina, Inc | Investor Owned | 696,385 | 14.59c | 11.72c | 11 |
| 2 | Duke Energy Carolinas, LLCalso NC | Investor Owned | 568,586 | 13.99c | 10.53c | 19 |
| 3 | South Carolina Public Service Authority | State | 185,529 | 11.38c | 9.43c | 3 |
| 4 | Duke Energy Progress (NC)also NC | Investor Owned | 143,713 | 14.88c | 11.57c | 13 |
| 5 | Berkeley Electric Coop Inc | Cooperative | 115,117 | 14.93c | 7.11c | 3 |
| 6 | Horry Electric Coop Inc | Cooperative | 86,726 | 13.23c | 13.56c | 1 |
| 7 | Palmetto Electric Coop Inc | Cooperative | 68,338 | 12.79c | 12.01c | 4 |
| 8 | Blue Ridge Electric Coop Inc (SC) | Cooperative | 67,553 | 18.94c | 13.90c | 5 |
| 9 | York Electric Coop Incalso NC | Cooperative | 65,244 | 12.65c | 12.02c | 4 |
| 10 | Laurens Electric Coop, Inc | Cooperative | 58,438 | 14.66c | 13.88c | 7 |
| 11 | Mid-Carolina Electric Coop Inc | Cooperative | 56,463 | 14.88c | 12.98c | 5 |
| 12 | Aiken Electric Coop Inc | Cooperative | 49,460 | 15.53c | 13.03c | 9 |
| 13 | City of Rock Hill (SC) | Municipal | 36,492 | 12.55c | 12.79c | 1 |
| 14 | Santee Electric Coop, Inc | Cooperative | 35,235 | 14.74c | 14.94c | 4 |
| 15 | Fairfield Electric Coop, Inc | Cooperative | 32,397 | 14.35c | 13.39c | 5 |
| 16 | MPD Electric Cooperative | Cooperative | 31,874 | 10.94c | 7.89c | 7 |
| 17 | Black River Electric Coop, Inc (SC) | Cooperative | 30,610 | 13.47c | 13.11c | 4 |
| 18 | Greer Commission of Public Wks | Municipal | 24,893 | 11.80c | 11.35c | 2 |
| 19 | Broad River Electric Coop, Incalso NC | Cooperative | 23,140 | 15.91c | 14.68c | 5 |
| 20 | Lynches River Elec Coop, Inc | Cooperative | 21,363 | 15.71c | 13.80c | 3 |
| 21 | City of Orangeburg (SC) | Municipal | 20,639 | 15.49c | 12.68c | 1 |
| 22 | Tri-County Electric Coop, Inc (SC) | Cooperative | 17,672 | 18.51c | 16.06c | 6 |
| 23 | Easley Combined Utility System | Municipal | 15,772 | 12.81c | 12.18c | 1 |
| 24 | Edisto Electric Coop, Inc | Cooperative | 15,421 | 16.40c | 18.24c | 8 |
| 25 | Newberry Electric Coop, Inc | Cooperative | 12,970 | 16.32c | 7.04c | 4 |
| 26 | Greenwood CPW | Municipal | 11,753 | 9.04c | 7.30c | 1 |
| 27 | City of Gaffney (SC) | Municipal | 6,314 | 12.39c | 14.92c | 1 |
| 28 | Lockhart Power Co | Investor Owned | 4,976 | 13.42c | 5.39c | 5 |
| 29 | Haywood Electric Member Corpalso NC, GA | Cooperative | 9 | 18.97c | 16.33c | 1 |
Small utilities filing the EIA-861S short form (17): totals across all sectors, no residential split+
| Utility | Ownership | Customers (all) | Avg price (all) | Counties |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Little River Electric Coop Inc | Cooperative | 15,372 | 16.37c | 4 |
| Coastal Electric Coop, Inc (SC) | Cooperative | 12,233 | 16.37c | 3 |
| City of Camden | Municipal | 11,673 | 15.82c | 3 |
| City of Seneca (SC) | Municipal | 8,154 | 12.96c | 1 |
| City of Union (SC) | Municipal | 6,988 | 14.43c | 1 |
| City of Laurens (SC) | Municipal | 5,513 | 12.05c | 1 |
| City of Newberry (SC) | Municipal | 5,458 | 14.83c | 1 |
| City of Georgetown (SC) | Municipal | 5,440 | 12.85c | 1 |
| City of Bennettsville (SC) | Municipal | 4,800 | 13.47c | 1 |
| Clinton Combined Utility Sys | Municipal | 4,324 | 15.36c | 1 |
| City of Abbeville (SC) | Municipal | 3,534 | 14.38c | 1 |
| Town of Winnsboro (SC) | Municipal | 3,182 | 15.55c | 1 |
| Bamberg Board of Public Works | Municipal | 1,781 | 12.48c | 1 |
| City of Westminster (SC) | Municipal | 1,521 | 15.97c | 1 |
| Town of McCormick (SC) | Municipal | 1,072 | 17.46c | 1 |
| Town of Prosperity (SC) | Municipal | 824 | 13.42c | 1 |
| City of Due West (SC) | Municipal | 488 | 9.67c | 1 |
Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration, Form EIA-861 Annual, 2024 final data (public domain), retrieved 28 August 2026; prices are average realised revenue per kWh, not tariffs. Final 2024 file f8612024.zip (released 3 December 2025) from the EIA-861 detailed data files. Preliminary 2025 figures come from the early-release file f8612025er.zip (4 August 2026), which EIA has not yet validated; they are labelled as such wherever shown and never mixed into a final figure.