Iowa Utility Cost Calculator
Iowa’s wind-heavy grid delivered 856 kWh a month to the average home at 14.13¢ per kWh, a bill of about $120.95.
Iowa figures
A wind state
Wind turbines produced 63% of Iowa’s electricity in 2024 — the highest wind share of any state — with coal at 21% and gas at 14%. Coal supplied 59% as recently as 2014. MidAmerican’s Walter Scott Jr. Energy Center, a coal plant, is still the single largest generator, but no longer the backbone of the system. Iowa generated 70.5 TWh against 54.9 TWh of retail sales.
Two utilities and 135 towns
MidAmerican Energy (6.0 TWh to homes) and Interstate Power and Light (3.6 TWh) made most residential sales in 2024; the Iowa Utilities Commission regulates both. Iowa also has 135 public power entities — second only to Nebraska — including Cedar Falls Utilities and the Board of Water, Electric & Communications, plus 42 cooperatives. Fewer than half of residential meters (46%) were advanced meters in 2024, well below most states.
The residential price of 14.13¢ per kWh is below the national average, but bills swing hard with summer cooling: $193.22 in July 2026 against $90.46 in November 2025.
Propane on the farm
Thirteen percent of Iowa homes heat mainly with propane, and they use a lot: 844 gallons a year in the 2020 survey, the third-highest figure among the states. EIA’s weekly survey put Iowa propane at $1.660 a gallon at the end of the 2025–26 season, second only to Nebraska as the cheapest surveyed; heating oil was $4.224. Natural gas heats 71% of homes at $1.001 per therm. The HHS listing names the Division of Community Action Agencies as LIHEAP administrator.
Average Iowa electric bill by month
Revenue ÷ customers, EIA-861M [1]; highest month in teal.
Worked example
A farmhouse heated with propane, no gas service, at Iowa averages:
- Electricity: 856 kWh × 14.13¢ = $120.95
- Propane: 844 gal × $1.660 ÷ 12 = $116.75
$237.70 a month · $2,852.47 a year
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Figures verified against their sources on . Report a correction