U.S. residential electricity EIA data: July 2026 US average 18.3¢/kWh Updated
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Home Office · Maryland

How Much Does It Cost to Run a Desktop Computer in Maryland?

The short answer

A typical 150W desktop computer costs about $0.03 per hour to run in Maryland, or $7.82 a month at 8 hours a day.

The estimate uses Maryland’s average residential electricity price of 21.4¢/kWh from EIA (July 2026) — 17% above the national average.

Source: U.S. EIA, July 2026 data · Updated

Desktop Computer cost by daily use in Maryland

Cost at 21.4¢/kWh, the Maryland average (EIA, Jul 2026)
Daily usekWh/monthPer dayPer monthPer year
1 hour/day 4.6 $0.03 $0.98 $11.72
2 hours/day 9.1 $0.06 $1.95 $23.44
4 hours/day 18.3 $0.13 $3.91 $46.89
8 hours/day 36.5 $0.26 $7.82 $93.78
12 hours/day 54.8 $0.39 $11.72 $141
24 hours/day 109.5 $0.77 $23.45 $281

Maryland vs other states

At typical use, a desktop computer costs $93.78 a year in Maryland — $116 less than in Hawaii and $38.06 more than in Louisiana.

Maryland has the 15th-most-expensive residential electricity of the 50 states and DC. Maryland electricity rates · all states ranked

Electricity price trend in Maryland

21.4¢/kWh in July 2026 — ▲ +13.7% from a year earlier.

How to lower the cost of running a desktop computer

Everyday desktop use — browsing, documents, video calls — is light work for a modern PC, so most office desktops plus a monitor draw around 100–200W. Workstations rendering video or running heavy software use more. Sleep mode drops consumption to just a few watts, so letting the computer sleep when you step away makes a real difference over a year.

  • Set the computer to sleep after 15–30 minutes and the display after 5–10 minutes.
  • Turn off the whole setup with a power strip at the end of the day.
  • Lower monitor brightness — it often accounts for a big share of the total.

Questions

Frequently asked questions

How much does it cost to run a desktop computer for 24 hours in Maryland?

Running a 150W desktop computer for 24 hours uses about 3.60 kWh, which costs about $0.77 at Maryland’s average rate of 21.4¢/kWh.

How many kWh does a desktop computer use per month?

At 8 hours a day, a typical desktop computer uses about 36.5 kWh a month. In Maryland that costs $7.82.

Is it expensive to run a desktop computer in Maryland?

Maryland has the 15th-most-expensive residential electricity of the 50 states and DC at 21.4¢/kWh — pricier than most. Running a desktop computer here costs about $93.78 a year at typical use, compared with $80.20 at the national average rate.

What is the electricity rate in Maryland right now?

The average residential electricity rate in Maryland was 21.4¢ per kWh in July 2026, according to the latest EIA data — up 13.7% from a year earlier.

Desktop Computer costs in nearby states

Cheapest and priciest states

Comparisons

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