Retail vs Wholesale Price

The wholesale price is what generators are paid and large buyers pay for electricity in bulk, set by markets such as the day-ahead auction, and it changes hour by hour. The retail price is what a household or business actually pays on its bill: it bundles the wholesale cost with network charges, taxes, supplier margins and often a fixed standing charge, then averages the total over a billing period. A retail price barely moves even on a day when wholesale prices swing widely or turn negative.

Worked Example

California's average retail electricity price was 27.03 US cents/kWh in 2025, a single billed rate covering a wholesale market that moves hour by hour underneath it. See the full figures.

Cite this page

APA 7

World Power Monitor. (2026). Retail vs Wholesale Price: What It Means. https://worldpowermonitor.com/glossary/retail-vs-wholesale-price/

Plain text

World Power Monitor. Retail vs Wholesale Price: What It Means. Data as of 2026-09-21. https://worldpowermonitor.com/glossary/retail-vs-wholesale-price/

BibTeX

@misc{wpm_glossary_retail_vs_wholesale_price_2026,
  title = {{Retail vs Wholesale Price: What It Means}},
  author = {{World Power Monitor}},
  year = {2026},
  note = {Data as of 2026-09-21.},
  url = {https://worldpowermonitor.com/glossary/retail-vs-wholesale-price/}
}

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Retail vs Wholesale Price

Worked Example

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