Primary sources first
For U.S. electricity prices and utility data, we prefer first-party public sources, especially the U.S. Energy Information Administration. State price pages use EIA monthly residential electricity data. Utility/provider pages use finalized Form EIA-861 detailed annual data.
We separate current monthly context from annual provider history
A statewide monthly average and a utility's annual historical average are not interchangeable. Pages label the period, source, service type, and whether a figure is a statewide average or provider-specific historical value.
Calculations are intentionally simple and inspectable
Where possible, we expose the formula. Appliance cost is based on watts ÷ 1,000 × hours × electricity price. EV calculations separately model vehicle efficiency and charging losses. We avoid hidden scoring systems when a transparent arithmetic relationship is enough.
Estimates are not tariff quotes
State and utility averages can be useful inputs, but they do not reproduce every utility tariff. Fixed charges, taxes, riders, time-of-use periods, tiers, demand charges, credits, and local fees can make a real bill different from a simple estimate.
We label data quality
EIA-861 records can be observed or imputed. A provider/state record must meet our baseline quality rules before it can even be considered for public utility publication: observed headline data, bundled residential service, meaningful customer volume, a reported territory, and a plausible average price. We do not silently present energy-only or delivery-only components as complete residential prices.
Programmatic data does not automatically become public editorial content
Our source pipeline can generate far more utility pages than we choose to index or monetize. We therefore maintain an explicit curated provider/state cohort. Pages outside that cohort remain useful as direct-reference data pages, but they are noindex, omitted from the sitemap, and ad-free. A smaller reviewed cohort is preferable to treating every generated record as equally publication-ready.
Automated updates are validated before publication
Our data workflows regenerate state and utility pages from public datasets, then validate page existence, internal links, canonical URLs, sitemap membership, robots directives, required source files, AdSense presence on indexable pages, and the absence of AdSense on noindex reference pages before publishing.
Editorial pages are written for a human question
Guides are not generated by swapping a state or provider name into a template. They are intended to answer recurring questions that help people interpret the calculators and public datasets.
Corrections
If you find a calculation, source, label, or factual statement that appears wrong, email [email protected] with the page URL and the issue. We review corrections against the underlying source or calculation logic.
Independence
Know Your Power Bill is independent. It is not a utility company and is not sponsored or endorsed by EIA or by the utilities listed on the site unless a page explicitly says otherwise.