Kentucky energy profile

Manufacturing energy costs in Kentucky

Kentucky plants pay 7.13 cents per kWh for industrial power as of May 2026, which puts the state 18.1% under the national average and 10 of 51 in the country, counting from the cheapest.

Current prices in Kentucky

  • Industrial electricity: 7.13 cents per kWh (May 2026, EIA).
  • Commercial electricity, the rate a warehouse or distribution center in Kentucky typically pays: 13.09 cents per kWh.
  • Industrial natural gas: 3.87 per Mcf (May 2026), 9.4% below the national average.
  • Just below Kentucky on the price ladder: Louisiana at 6.88, Montana at 6.97, Georgia at 7.04 cents. Just above: Idaho at 7.21, South Carolina at 7.23, Washington at 7.24 cents.

What the rate does to operating cost

  • A 10 kW machine running a 4,000 hour year costs about 2,852 in electricity at Kentucky rates versus 3,484 at the national average; at 50 kW the gap is 14,260 versus 17,420, and at 200 kW it is 57,040 versus 69,680.
  • For site selection and quoting, Kentucky sits on the favorable side of the power map. Processes that live or die on electricity cost, from electrolysis to induction heating, price out better here than in most states.

What factory labor pays in Kentucky

  • Industrial production managers: $53.97/hr median in Kentucky versus $60.61 nationally (OEWS 2025).
  • Industrial engineers: $46.55/hr median in Kentucky versus $49.25 nationally (OEWS 2025).
  • Production supervisors: $34.85/hr median in Kentucky versus $35.79 nationally (OEWS 2025).
  • Tool and die makers: $32.00/hr median in Kentucky versus $30.79 nationally (OEWS 2025).
  • Industrial machinery mechanics: $31.04/hr median in Kentucky versus $31.02 nationally (OEWS 2025).
  • Machinists: $28.20/hr median in Kentucky versus $28.24 nationally (OEWS 2025).
  • Kentucky employs about 248,000 manufacturing workers as of Jun 2026 (BLS).

Manufacturing base in Kentucky

  • Kentucky has 3,669 manufacturing establishments employing about 257,247 workers (Census County Business Patterns, 2023).
  • Largest sectors by establishment count: fabricated metal products (667), wood product manufacturing (358), food manufacturing (320), machinery manufacturing (287), printing and related support (261).

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 Kentucky observation so the local price history deepens over time.

Last reviewed 2026-05-12.