U.S. residential electricity EIA data: July 2026 US average 18.3¢/kWh Updated
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Entertainment · Louisiana

How Much Does It Cost to Run a Gaming PC in Louisiana?

The short answer

Running a 500W gaming PC in Louisiana costs about $0.06 an hour. At 4 hours a day, that’s roughly $7.74 a month and $92.86 a year.

That’s based on Louisiana’s average residential rate of 12.7¢/kWh (EIA, July 2026), 31% below the US average.

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

Gaming PC cost by daily use in Louisiana

Cost at 12.7¢/kWh, the Louisiana average (EIA, Jul 2026)
Daily usekWh/monthPer dayPer monthPer year
1 hour/day 15.2 $0.06 $1.93 $23.21
2 hours/day 30.4 $0.13 $3.87 $46.43
4 hours/day 60.8 $0.25 $7.74 $92.86
8 hours/day 121.7 $0.51 $15.48 $186
12 hours/day 182.5 $0.76 $23.22 $279
24 hours/day 365.0 $1.53 $46.43 $557

Louisiana vs other states

Louisiana has the cheapest electricity in the country — the same gaming PC would cost $258 more a year in Hawaii.

Louisiana has the cheapest residential electricity of the 50 states and DC. Louisiana price per kWh · all states ranked

Electricity price trend in Louisiana

12.7¢/kWh in July 2026 — ▼ −3.0% from a year earlier.

How to lower the cost of running a gaming PC

A gaming PC's power draw depends on the GPU and CPU and on how demanding the game is. A mid-range build typically pulls around 400–500W from the wall during gaming, while high-end systems with top-tier graphics cards can exceed 700–800W. Idle and desktop use is much lower, often 60–120W. The monitor adds another 30–80W.

  • Cap frame rates to your monitor's refresh rate — rendering frames you can't see wastes power.
  • Use your GPU's power-limit or efficiency settings for a large power cut with a small performance loss.
  • Set the PC to sleep after 15–30 minutes of inactivity.

Questions

Frequently asked questions

How much does it cost to run a gaming PC for 24 hours in Louisiana?

Running a 500W gaming PC for 24 hours uses about 12.0 kWh, which costs about $1.53 at Louisiana’s average rate of 12.7¢/kWh.

How many kWh does a gaming PC use per month?

At 4 hours a day, a typical gaming PC uses about 60.8 kWh a month. In Louisiana that costs $7.74.

Is it expensive to run a gaming PC in Louisiana?

Louisiana has the cheapest residential electricity of the 50 states and DC at 12.7¢/kWh — one of the cheapest. Running a gaming PC here costs about $92.86 a year at typical use, compared with $134 at the national average rate.

What is the electricity rate in Louisiana right now?

The average residential electricity rate in Louisiana was 12.7¢ per kWh in July 2026, according to the latest EIA data — down 3.0% from a year earlier.

Does a gaming PC use more electricity than a console?

Usually yes. A typical gaming PC draws 2–3 times more than a PS5 or Xbox Series X while gaming.

Gaming PC costs in nearby states

Cheapest and priciest states

Comparisons

Sources & method