US Utility Bill
US Utility Bill — US reference tool.
About US Utility Bill
A US residential utility bill has two structurally different parts. Usage charges scale with consumption: kilowatt-hours times the electric rate, plus therms times the gas rate. Fixed charges — service availability, delivery, meter and customer charges — are billed whether you use anything or not, which is why an empty house still receives a bill and why the effective cost per kilowatt-hour rises sharply in low-usage months. Separating the two shows how much of your bill conservation can actually reach: only the usage portion responds to turning things off.
Formulas
Electricity charge
Electric = kWh used x rate per kWh
Gas charge
Gas = therms used x rate per therm
- therm
- 100,000 BTU, the standard US gas billing unit
Bill total
Monthly bill = electric + gas + fixed charges
Worked example
With the default values below, US Utility Bill returns Estimated Monthly Bill of $235.75. Change any input above and every figure here is recalculated in your browser.
Inputs used
- Electricity usedaccepts 0–20,000 kWh
- 900 kWh
- Electricity rateaccepts 0–2 $/kWh
- 0.17 $/kWh
- Natural gas usedaccepts 0–2,000 therms
- 45 therms
- Gas rateaccepts 0–10 $/therm
- 1.35 $/therm
- Fixed monthly chargesminimum 0
- 22
Results
- Estimated Monthly Bill
- $235.75
- Electricity Charge
- $153.00
- Natural Gas Charge
- $60.75
- Annualised Cost
- $2,829.00
Step by step
- 1Values used
- 2Electricity charge
- 3Gas charge
- 4Bill total
- 5Estimated Monthly Bill= 235.75
- 6Electricity Charge= 153.00
- 7Natural Gas Charge= 60.75
- 8Annualised Cost= 2,829.00
Assumptions and limits
- The result is derived only from the 5 inputs listed above. Anything not among them is not part of the calculation.
- In particular, this calculator does not take inflation, tax or compounding frequency into account.
- Figures are rounded for display to 2 decimal places, so totals built from several rounded parts can differ slightly from the unrounded arithmetic.
- An estimate for budgeting only. Actual US utility bills depend on your tariff structure, tiered or time-of-use rates, seasonal adjustments, riders, taxes and local surcharges. Consult your utility's current rate schedule for authoritative figures.
How these calculators are built and tested is described on the Methodology page. If a figure looks wrong, please report it.
An estimate for budgeting only. Actual US utility bills depend on your tariff structure, tiered or time-of-use rates, seasonal adjustments, riders, taxes and local surcharges. Consult your utility's current rate schedule for authoritative figures.
Frequently Asked Questions
Where do I find my rate per kWh?
Divide the total electricity charge on a recent bill by the kilowatt-hours shown for that period. That all-in figure includes generation, transmission and riders, and is more useful than the headline supply rate alone.
Why does my bill not fall proportionally when I cut usage?
Fixed service and delivery charges do not move with consumption. If 22 dollars of a 180 dollar bill is fixed, halving your usage cuts the bill by far less than half.
Does this handle tiered or time-of-use rates?
No — it applies one blended rate. If your utility charges rising block tiers or peak and off-peak prices, use your bill's effective average rate for a reasonable approximation, or model each tier separately for precision.
Related Calculators
United States specifics
- Currency
- $ USDUS Dollar
- Region
- North America
- Country code
- US
- Amounts look like
- $1,234,567.89
- Dates look like
- Mar 9, 2026
- Units
- imperialWeek starts Sunday
In United States, imperial units are in everyday use.
Results on this page are expressed in USD (US Dollar). Figures are estimates for general planning — confirm current rates and thresholds with the relevant United States authority before relying on them.