North Dakota energy profile

Manufacturing energy costs in North Dakota

North Dakota plants pay 8.27 cents per kWh for industrial power as of May 2026, which puts the state 5.1% under the national average and 22 of 51 in the country, counting from the cheapest.

Current prices in North Dakota

  • Industrial electricity: 8.27 cents per kWh (May 2026, EIA).
  • Commercial electricity, the rate a warehouse or distribution center in North Dakota typically pays: 7.38 cents per kWh.
  • Industrial natural gas: 2.52 per Mcf (May 2026), 41% below the national average.
  • Just below North Dakota on the price ladder: Missouri at 7.89, Utah at 8.1, Kansas at 8.12 cents. Just above: Oregon at 8.55, Florida at 8.99, Wisconsin at 9 cents.

What the rate does to operating cost

  • A 10 kW machine running a 4,000 hour year costs about 3,308 in electricity at North Dakota rates versus 3,484 at the national average; at 50 kW the gap is 16,540 versus 17,420, and at 200 kW it is 66,160 versus 69,680.
  • With rates near the national middle, North Dakota plants can use U.S.-average defaults for rough estimates, then refine against the utility tariff. The bigger lever is usually consumption, not the rate.

What factory labor pays in North Dakota

  • Industrial production managers: $55.80/hr median in North Dakota versus $60.61 nationally (OEWS 2025).
  • Industrial engineers: $46.61/hr median in North Dakota versus $49.25 nationally (OEWS 2025).
  • Production supervisors: $36.71/hr median in North Dakota versus $35.79 nationally (OEWS 2025).
  • Tool and die makers: $35.16/hr median in North Dakota versus $30.79 nationally (OEWS 2025).
  • Industrial machinery mechanics: $31.72/hr median in North Dakota versus $31.02 nationally (OEWS 2025).
  • Welders, cutters, and brazers: $29.81/hr median in North Dakota versus $25.84 nationally (OEWS 2025).
  • North Dakota employs about 28,000 manufacturing workers as of Jun 2026 (BLS).

Manufacturing base in North Dakota

  • North Dakota has 695 manufacturing establishments employing about 29,264 workers (Census County Business Patterns, 2023).
  • Largest sectors by establishment count: fabricated metal products (140), food manufacturing (124), machinery manufacturing (65), machine shops (45), furniture and related products (42).

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 North Dakota observation so the local price history deepens over time.

Last reviewed 2026-05-12.