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Cost to run a smart speaker in California (August 2026 rates)

At 29.75¢ per kilowatt-hour — California's average residential price in August 2026 — running a smart speaker costs $7.82 a year. That is 64% more than the national average of $4.77. California's residential rate is down 3.8% from August 2025, which moves this appliance from $8.13 to $7.82 a year.

Per hour
under 0.1¢
Per day of use
2.1¢
Per month
65.2¢
Per year
$7.82

Assumption: 3 W, 24 hours a day, 365 days a year — 26 kWh a year. Idle listening. Playing music at volume draws several times more, but only while it plays. Use the calculator to swap in the numbers from your own model.

How California compares

California pays 29.75¢/kWh, the 4th most expensive residential electricity of the 51 U.S. jurisdictions EIA reports. For this appliance that works out to $3.05 more a year than the typical U.S. household pays for the same use. Running the same smart speaker costs $3.34 a year in Nevada and $12.40 in Hawaii, so where you live changes this bill by $9.06 a year.

StateRatePer monthPer year
New York28.65¢62.7¢$7.53
Alaska29.41¢64.4¢$7.73
California29.75¢65.2¢$7.82
Massachusetts30.48¢66.8¢$8.01
Maine32.11¢70.3¢$8.44

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

What else costs about the same in California

Cutting the number down

Questions

How much does a smart speaker cost per month in California?
About 65.2¢ a month, assuming 3 W, 24 hours a day, 365 days a year at 29.75¢/kWh.
How many kilowatt-hours does a smart speaker use?
Roughly 26 kWh a year under these assumptions, or 0.00 kWh for every hour it runs.
Is that expensive compared with other states?
California has the 4th most expensive average residential rate in the country, so this appliance costs more here than the U.S. average of $4.77 a year.