California energy profile

Manufacturing energy costs in California

California plants pay 25.11 cents per kWh for industrial power as of Jul 2026, which puts the state 157% over the national average and 49 of 51 in the country, counting from the cheapest.

Current prices in California

  • Industrial electricity: 25.11 cents per kWh (Jul 2026, EIA).
  • Commercial electricity, the rate a warehouse or distribution center in California typically pays: 30.56 cents per kWh.
  • Industrial natural gas: 11.09 per Mcf (Jul 2026), 142.1% above the national average.
  • Just below California on the price ladder: Massachusetts at 20.25, Rhode Island at 22.86, Alaska at 24.81 cents. Just above: District of Columbia at 32.15, Hawaii at 39.33 cents.

What the rate does to operating cost

  • A 10 kW machine running a 4,000 hour year costs about 10,044 in electricity at California rates versus 3,908 at the national average; at 50 kW the gap is 50,220 versus 19,540, and at 200 kW it is 200,880 versus 78,160.
  • Power costs here punish waste. In California, load-shifting, waste heat recovery, and idle-time elimination pay back quicker than the national math suggests, and quotes for energy-heavy work should use the local rate, not a national default.

What factory labor pays in California

  • Industrial production managers: $63.76/hr median in California versus $60.61 nationally (OEWS 2025).
  • Industrial engineers: $59.90/hr median in California versus $49.25 nationally (OEWS 2025).
  • Tool and die makers: $37.04/hr median in California versus $30.79 nationally (OEWS 2025).
  • Production supervisors: $36.94/hr median in California versus $35.79 nationally (OEWS 2025).
  • Industrial machinery mechanics: $35.77/hr median in California versus $31.02 nationally (OEWS 2025).
  • Welders, cutters, and brazers: $27.91/hr median in California versus $25.84 nationally (OEWS 2025).
  • California employs about 1,214,000 manufacturing workers as of Aug 2026 (BLS).

Manufacturing base in California

  • California has 35,300 manufacturing establishments employing about 1,157,201 workers (Census County Business Patterns, 2023).
  • Largest sectors by establishment count: fabricated metal products (6,127), food manufacturing (4,086), printing and related support (2,758), computer and electronic products (2,463), machine shops (2,221).

Sources and update cadence

  • Prices come from the U.S. Energy Information Administration and refresh automatically when the agency publishes; this page also archives each month's California observation so the local price history deepens over time.

Last reviewed 2026-09-30.