Idaho energy profile

Manufacturing energy costs in Idaho

The current industrial power rate in Idaho is 7.27 cents per kWh (Apr 2026, EIA), ranking 12 of 51 states and sitting 16.1% below the national average.

Current prices in Idaho

  • Industrial electricity: 7.27 cents per kWh (Apr 2026, EIA).
  • Commercial electricity, the rate a warehouse or distribution center in Idaho typically pays: 9.87 cents per kWh.
  • Industrial natural gas: 4.26 per Mcf (Apr 2026), 13.1% below the national average.
  • Just below Idaho on the price ladder: Washington at 7.01, Louisiana at 7.16, Arizona at 7.23 cents. Just above: Kentucky at 7.3, South Carolina at 7.45, Mississippi at 7.46 cents.

What the rate does to operating cost

  • A 10 kW machine running a 4,000 hour year costs about 2,908 in electricity at Idaho rates versus 3,464 at the national average; at 50 kW the gap is 14,540 versus 17,320, and at 200 kW it is 58,160 versus 69,280.
  • Energy is a genuine competitive advantage here: energy-intensive steps like heat treating, melting, and drying carry meaningfully lower unit cost in Idaho than in most of the country, which strengthens make-versus-buy cases for keeping those operations in-house.

What factory labor pays in Idaho

  • Industrial production managers: $51.61/hr median in Idaho versus $60.61 nationally (OEWS 2025).
  • Industrial engineers: $48.48/hr median in Idaho versus $49.25 nationally (OEWS 2025).
  • Production supervisors: $34.08/hr median in Idaho versus $35.79 nationally (OEWS 2025).
  • Industrial machinery mechanics: $30.22/hr median in Idaho versus $31.02 nationally (OEWS 2025).
  • Machinists: $28.28/hr median in Idaho versus $28.24 nationally (OEWS 2025).
  • Tool and die makers: $27.79/hr median in Idaho versus $30.79 nationally (OEWS 2025).
  • Idaho employs about 76,000 manufacturing workers as of May 2026 (BLS).

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 Idaho observation so the local price history deepens over time.

Last reviewed 2026-05-12.