Cost to run a laptop in Rhode Island (July 2026 rates)
At 28.29¢ per kilowatt-hour — Rhode Island's average residential price in July 2026 — running a laptop costs $33.95 a year. That is 55% more than the national average of $21.97. Rhode Island's residential rate is up 8.1% from July 2025, which moves this appliance from $31.42 to $33.95 a year.
- Per hour
- 1.7¢
- Per day of use
- 13.6¢
- Per month
- $2.83
- Per year
- $33.95
Assumption: 60 W, 8 hours a day, 250 days a year — 120 kWh a year. Charging and working. Once the battery is full, draw drops toward 20 to 30 W for light work. Use the calculator to swap in the numbers from your own model.
How Rhode Island compares
Rhode Island pays 28.29¢/kWh, the 7th most expensive residential electricity of the 51 U.S. jurisdictions EIA reports. For this appliance that works out to $11.98 more a year than the typical U.S. household pays for the same use. Running the same laptop costs $15.26 a year in Louisiana and $57.60 in Hawaii, so where you live changes this bill by $42.34 a year.
| State | Rate | Per month | Per year |
|---|---|---|---|
| District of Columbia | 25.21¢ | $2.52 | $30.25 |
| New Hampshire | 26.60¢ | $2.66 | $31.92 |
| Rhode Island | 28.29¢ | $2.83 | $33.95 |
| Alaska | 28.83¢ | $2.88 | $34.60 |
| New York | 29.90¢ | $2.99 | $35.88 |
States ranked by average residential price, cheapest first. See all 51 states for a laptop.
What else costs about the same in Rhode Island
Cutting the number down
- A laptop typically uses a fifth to a tenth of what a comparable desktop does for ordinary work.
- The charger left plugged in with no laptop attached draws almost nothing on modern units.
Questions
- How much does a laptop cost per month in Rhode Island?
- About $2.83 a month, assuming 60 W, 8 hours a day, 250 days a year at 28.29¢/kWh.
- How many kilowatt-hours does a laptop use?
- Roughly 120 kWh a year under these assumptions, or 0.06 kWh for every hour it runs.
- Is that expensive compared with other states?
- Rhode Island has the 7th most expensive average residential rate in the country, so this appliance costs more here than the U.S. average of $21.97 a year.