U.S. residential electricity EIA data: July 2026 US average 18.3¢/kWh Updated
Appliances Rates by state Compare Calculators Reports Methodology About

Home Office · California

How Much Does It Cost to Run a Laptop in California?

The short answer

Running a 60W laptop in California costs about $0.02 an hour. At 8 hours a day, that’s roughly $4.91 a month and $58.88 a year.

The estimate uses California’s average residential electricity price of 33.6¢/kWh from EIA (July 2026) — 84% above the national average.

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

Laptop cost by daily use in California

Cost at 33.6¢/kWh, the California average (EIA, Jul 2026)
Daily usekWh/monthPer dayPer monthPer year
1 hour/day 1.8 $0.02 $0.61 $7.36
2 hours/day 3.7 $0.04 $1.23 $14.72
4 hours/day 7.3 $0.08 $2.45 $29.44
8 hours/day 14.6 $0.16 $4.91 $58.88
12 hours/day 21.9 $0.24 $7.36 $88.33
24 hours/day 43.8 $0.48 $14.72 $177

California vs other states

At typical use, a laptop costs $58.88 a year in California — $25.21 less than in Hawaii and $36.60 more than in Louisiana.

California has the 2nd-most-expensive residential electricity of the 50 states and DC. electricity prices in California · all states ranked

Electricity price trend in California

33.6¢/kWh in July 2026 — ▲ +2.9% from a year earlier.

How to lower the cost of running a laptop

Laptops are designed to run on batteries, so they're inherently efficient. Typical use draws 30–60W from the charger, with gaming laptops and mobile workstations reaching 100–200W under load. Even working full time on a laptop costs only a few dollars a month in most states.

  • Use battery-saver mode and lower screen brightness.
  • Unplug once charged if your laptop lacks charge-limiting features.
  • Put it to sleep instead of leaving it idle overnight.

Questions

Frequently asked questions

How much does it cost to run a laptop for 24 hours in California?

Running a 60W laptop for 24 hours uses about 1.44 kWh, which costs about $0.48 at California’s average rate of 33.6¢/kWh.

How many kWh does a laptop use per month?

At 8 hours a day, a typical laptop uses about 14.6 kWh a month. In California that costs $4.91.

Is it expensive to run a laptop in California?

California has the 2nd-most-expensive residential electricity of the 50 states and DC at 33.6¢/kWh — one of the most expensive. Running a laptop here costs about $58.88 a year at typical use, compared with $32.08 at the national average rate.

What is the electricity rate in California right now?

The average residential electricity rate in California was 33.6¢ per kWh in July 2026, according to the latest EIA data — up 2.9% from a year earlier.

Laptop costs in nearby states

Cheapest and priciest states

Comparisons

Sources & method