How much does a desktop computer cost per month in Montana?

About $5.19 a month, assuming 200 W, 8 hours a day, 250 days a year at 15.57¢/kWh.

How many kilowatt-hours does a desktop computer use?

Roughly 400 kWh a year under these assumptions, or 0.20 kWh for every hour it runs.

Is that expensive compared with other states?

Montana has the 19th cheapest average residential rate in the country, so this appliance costs less here than the U.S. average of $72.64 a year.

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Cost to run a desktop computer in Montana (August 2026 rates)

At 15.57¢ per kilowatt-hour — Montana's average residential price in August 2026 — running a desktop computer costs $62.28 a year. That is 14% less than the national average of $72.64. Montana's residential rate is up 9.0% from August 2025, which moves this appliance from $57.16 to $62.28 a year.

Per hour: 3.1¢
Per day of use: 24.9¢
Per month: $5.19
Per year: $62.28

Assumption: 200 W, 8 hours a day, 250 days a year — 400 kWh a year. An office-class tower plus monitor, doing ordinary work. Use the calculator to swap in the numbers from your own model.

How Montana compares

Montana pays 15.57¢/kWh, the 19th cheapest residential electricity of the 51 U.S. jurisdictions EIA reports. For this appliance that works out to $10.36 less a year than the typical U.S. household pays for the same use. Running the same desktop computer costs $50.88 a year in Nevada and $189 in Hawaii, so where you live changes this bill by $138 a year.

State	Rate	Per month	Per year
South Dakota	15.15¢	$5.05	$60.60
Kansas	15.47¢	$5.16	$61.88
Montana	15.57¢	$5.19	$62.28
South Carolina	15.76¢	$5.25	$63.04
Georgia	15.90¢	$5.30	$63.60

States ranked by average residential price, cheapest first. See all 51 states for a desktop computer.

What else costs about the same in Montana

Refrigerator$62.28 a year in MT Air purifier$68.20 a year in MT Electric oven$51.82 a year in MT

Cutting the number down

Sleep after 15 minutes idle is the default with the largest payoff and the smallest downside.
Screensavers do not save energy; a display running a 3D animation costs more than a blank screen.

Questions

How much does a desktop computer cost per month in Montana?: About $5.19 a month, assuming 200 W, 8 hours a day, 250 days a year at 15.57¢/kWh.
How many kilowatt-hours does a desktop computer use?: Roughly 400 kWh a year under these assumptions, or 0.20 kWh for every hour it runs.
Is that expensive compared with other states?: Montana has the 19th cheapest average residential rate in the country, so this appliance costs less here than the U.S. average of $72.64 a year.