Calculators · commercial electricity
Commercial electricity usage estimator
Opening a location, or sizing a contract for a business with no bills on hand? Pick the business type, enter the floor area and the hours, and the estimator applies the EIA's CBECS 2018 kilowatt-hours per square foot for that activity.
Your estimate
About 10,950 kWh a month
About 131,400 kWh a year
How it was computed
Restaurant or bar, 3,000 sq ft × 43.8 kWh per sq ft per year (EIA CBECS 2018) = 131,400 kWh a year
Market context, not a quote
At the EIA Texas commercial all-in average of 8.66¢ per kWh (06/2026) that is roughly $948 a month, supply and delivery together. Supplier quotes cover the supply portion only, so a quote is not directly comparable to this figure.
An account this size can qualify for a reverse auction, where suppliers bid against each other for the contract.
Estimating usage at a glance
The estimate is the EIA CBECS 2018 electricity intensity for the building activity (kilowatt-hours per square foot per year) times the floor area, adjusted for the hours the business is open. It is a starting point for sizing a supply contract, not a meter read: kitchen equipment, refrigeration, the age of the HVAC and the climate move real usage a long way. Twelve months of bills always beat the estimate, and a supplier quoting a brand-new location will usually price on an estimate like this one until the first bills arrive.
A labeled estimate on EIA CBECS 2018 intensities, never a meter read. Voltcheckr LLC is a registered electricity broker (Texas PUCT Broker Registration BR260102), not a utility and not a supplier.
Questions
How accurate is an estimate from square footage?
Within the range a supplier expects for a new account, and no better. CBECS intensities are averages across thousands of buildings of each type; two restaurants of the same size can differ by half depending on the kitchen, the hours and the refrigeration. Treat the figure as a sizing estimate and replace it with real bills as soon as there are any.
What if my business type is not listed?
Manufacturing and other process loads are deliberately absent: CBECS covers commercial buildings, and a plant's usage is set by its equipment, not its floor area. For those accounts a supplier prices on the bills or on an engineer's load estimate.
Can a new business get a supply quote with no usage history?
Yes. The quote is sized on an estimate like this one, and some suppliers ask for a deposit or a copy of the previous tenant's bill for a location that is changing hands. Twelve months in, the account is re-quoted on its own history.
Cite as: Voltcheckr LLC, Commercial electricity usage estimator (EIA CBECS 2018 intensities), voltcheckr.com/tools/commercial-usage-estimator.
Broker disclosure
Voltcheckr LLC is an independent energy broker (Texas PUCT Broker Registration BR260102), not an energy supplier, with no affiliated supplier. We are paid a referral commission by the supplier you choose, never by you, and you contract directly with that supplier. You can stop using Voltcheckr at any time at no cost. By continuing you acknowledge our broker disclosures.
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