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

How Much Does It Cost to Run a Laptop in South Carolina?

The short answer

Running a 60W laptop in South Carolina costs about $0.01 an hour. At 8 hours a day, that’s roughly $2.26 a month and $27.10 a year.

That’s based on South Carolina’s average residential rate of 15.5¢/kWh (EIA, July 2026), 16% below the US average.

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

Laptop cost by daily use in South Carolina

Cost at 15.5¢/kWh, the South Carolina average (EIA, Jul 2026)
Daily usekWh/monthPer dayPer monthPer year
1 hour/day 1.8 $0.01 $0.28 $3.39
2 hours/day 3.7 $0.02 $0.56 $6.78
4 hours/day 7.3 $0.04 $1.13 $13.55
8 hours/day 14.6 $0.07 $2.26 $27.10
12 hours/day 21.9 $0.11 $3.39 $40.66
24 hours/day 43.8 $0.22 $6.78 $81.31

South Carolina vs other states

At typical use, a laptop costs $27.10 a year in South Carolina — $56.99 less than in Hawaii and $4.82 more than in Louisiana.

South Carolina has the 20th-cheapest residential electricity of the 50 states and DC. South Carolina electricity rates · all states ranked

Electricity price trend in South Carolina

15.5¢/kWh in July 2026 — ▲ +5.2% 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 South Carolina?

Running a 60W laptop for 24 hours uses about 1.44 kWh, which costs about $0.22 at South Carolina’s average rate of 15.5¢/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 South Carolina that costs $2.26.

Is it expensive to run a laptop in South Carolina?

South Carolina has the 20th-cheapest residential electricity of the 50 states and DC at 15.5¢/kWh — cheaper than most. Running a laptop here costs about $27.10 a year at typical use, compared with $32.08 at the national average rate.

What is the electricity rate in South Carolina right now?

The average residential electricity rate in South Carolina was 15.5¢ per kWh in July 2026, according to the latest EIA data — up 5.2% from a year earlier.

Laptop costs in nearby states

Cheapest and priciest states

Comparisons

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