Here are a few facts and statistics regarding electricity.
We think you’ll find at least some of them interesting. 
The 3 States with the highest average price of electricity in 2008 were:
- Hawaii (30¢ per kWh)
- Connecticut (17¢ per kWh)
- New York (17¢ per kWh)
Key factors that affect the price of electricity in Texas include:
- Fuels — Coal is relatively inexpensive while natural gas tends to be more costly.
- Power plants — Construction and maintenance costs are greater for some kinds of power plants than others.
- Transmission and distribution lines — Maintaining and using the transmission system to deliver electricity contributes to the cost of electricity.
- Weather conditions — Rain can provide water for hydropower generation. Extreme heat can increase the demand for electricity for cooling.
- Regulations — In some States prices are fully regulated by Public Utility Commissions, while in others, like Texas, there is a combination of deregulated prices (for generators) and regulated prices (for transmission and distribution).
Fossil Fuels Generate Most U.S. Power
Coal is the most common fuel for generating electricity in the United States. In 2007, nearly half (49%) of the Country’s 4.1 trillion kilowatthours of electricity used coal as its source of energy.
Natural gas, in addition to being burned to heat water for steam, can also be burned to produce hot combustion gases that pass directly through a turbine, spinning the turbine’s blades to generate electricity. Gas turbines are commonly used when electricity utility usage is in high demand. In 2007, about 22% of the Nation’s electricity was fueled by natural gas.
Petroleum can also be used to make steam to turn a turbine. Residual fuel oil, a product refined from crude oil, is often the petroleum product used in electric plants that use petroleum to make steam. Petroleum was used to generate only about 2% of all electricity in the United States in 2007.
Nuclear Power Provides About One-Fifth of U.S. Electricity
Nuclear power is a method in which steam is produced by heating water through a process called nuclear fission. In a nuclear power plant, a reactor contains a core of nuclear fuel, primarily uranium. When atoms of uranium fuel are hit by neutrons, they fission (split) releasing heat and more neutrons. Under controlled conditions, these other neutrons can strike more uranium atoms, splitting more atoms, and so on. Thereby, continuous fission can take place, forming a chain reaction releasing heat.
The heat is used to turn water into steam, that, in turn, spins a turbine that generates electricity. Nuclear power was used to generate about 20% of all the Country’s electricity in 2007.
