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

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

The short answer

A typical 150W desktop computer costs about $0.02 per hour to run in North Dakota, or $4.90 a month at 8 hours a day.

North Dakota’s average residential rate was 13.4¢ per kWh in July 2026 (EIA), 27% below the US average.

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

Desktop Computer cost by daily use in North Dakota

Cost at 13.4¢/kWh, the North Dakota average (EIA, Jul 2026)
Daily usekWh/monthPer dayPer monthPer year
1 hour/day 4.6 $0.02 $0.61 $7.34
2 hours/day 9.1 $0.04 $1.22 $14.68
4 hours/day 18.3 $0.08 $2.45 $29.37
8 hours/day 36.5 $0.16 $4.90 $58.74
12 hours/day 54.8 $0.24 $7.34 $88.10
24 hours/day 109.5 $0.48 $14.69 $176

North Dakota vs other states

At typical use, a desktop computer costs $58.74 a year in North Dakota — $152 less than in Hawaii and $3.02 more than in Louisiana.

North Dakota has the 4th-cheapest residential electricity of the 50 states and DC. electricity prices in North Dakota · all states ranked

Electricity price trend in North Dakota

13.4¢/kWh in July 2026 — ▲ +0.8% 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 North Dakota?

Running a 150W desktop computer for 24 hours uses about 3.60 kWh, which costs about $0.48 at North Dakota’s average rate of 13.4¢/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 North Dakota that costs $4.90.

Is it expensive to run a desktop computer in North Dakota?

North Dakota has the 4th-cheapest residential electricity of the 50 states and DC at 13.4¢/kWh — one of the cheapest. Running a desktop computer here costs about $58.74 a year at typical use, compared with $80.20 at the national average rate.

What is the electricity rate in North Dakota right now?

The average residential electricity rate in North Dakota was 13.4¢ per kWh in July 2026, according to the latest EIA data — up 0.8% from a year earlier.

Desktop Computer costs in nearby states

Cheapest and priciest states

Comparisons

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