# How much does AI cost for energy and utility companies?

The typical AI build for energy and utility companies costs $1,500, and half of 171 priced posts fall between $150 and $5,600. That ranks 32nd of 36 industries on median cost.

Updated 2026-11-04. Published by VIZIO AI (https://vizio.ai/?utm_source=build-cost-index&utm_medium=referral&utm_content=industry-md). Page: https://aibuildindex.com/industries/energy. Data: https://aibuildindex.com/industries/energy/data.json.

## Key points

- Budgets run below the market: a median of $1,500 against $2,500 overall.
- Nigeria buys more here than usual: 4.2% of these posts against 1.6% of the market.
- Demand leans towards support chatbots: 5.9% of posts here against 3.3% across industries.
- “Chatbot” appears in 5.9% of posts, 1.9 times the usual share.

## What shapes cost here

Energy buyers range from solar installers wanting leads to utilities wanting forecasting. The first is a small build; the second carries safety and regulatory review.

## How it ranks

| Measure | Value | Rank |
| --- | --- | --- |
| AI build posts | 238 | 25 of 36 |
| Median build cost | $1,500 | 32 of 36 |
| Median hourly rate | $30/hr | 5 of 36 |
| Applicants per post | 13 | 13 of 36 |
| Expert-level requests | 34% | 28 of 36 |
| Compliance named | 4.6% | 21 of 36 |
| Production named | 14.6% | 26 of 36 |
| Buyers with $10k+ past spend | 43% | 14 of 36 |

## What buyers ask for

| Build | Posts | Share here | Across industries |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Back-office automation | 35 | 14.6% | 14.2% |
| AI SaaS and MVPs | 29 | 12.1% | 21.4% |
| CRM automation | 18 | 7.5% | 4.6% |
| Custom agents | 18 | 7.5% | 7.3% |
| n8n workflows | 17 | 7.1% | 6.2% |
| Make and Zapier | 15 | 6.3% | 3.9% |
| Support chatbots | 14 | 5.9% | 3.3% |
| API integrations | 11 | 4.6% | 5.4% |
| RAG and document search | 9 | 3.8% | 2.3% |
| Voice agents | 6 | 2.5% | 2.8% |

## Tools and systems named

| Name | Share here | Across industries |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Claude | 4.6% | 6.0% |
| OpenAI and ChatGPT | 3.8% | 3.0% |
| n8n | 7.1% | 6.4% |
| “Agent” | 13.9% | 12.0% |
| GoHighLevel | 5.0% | 3.2% |
| “Chatbot” | 5.9% | 3.1% |
| WhatsApp | 3.3% | 4.5% |
| HubSpot | 3.8% | 2.9% |
| GoHighLevel | 6.3% | 5.7% |
| Google Sheets | 3.8% | 5.7% |
| Slack | 2.1% | 3.8% |
| AWS | 4.6% | 6.3% |
| Twilio | 3.3% | 3.7% |

## Questions

### How much does an AI build cost for energy and utility companies?

The median across 171 priced posts is $1,500. Half fall between $150 and $5,600, and one in ten reaches $12,000 or more. That ranks 32nd of 36 industries on median cost.

### What are energy and utility companies building with AI?

The most common requests are back-office automation, AI SaaS and MVPs, CRM automation.

### What do AI developers charge in energy and utilities?

Posted rates centre on $30 an hour, with most between $22.50 and $38.88. These are open-market rates; agencies usually charge more.

### Where are the buyers in energy and utilities?

The United States is the largest market, with 54% of posts.

### How do you decide a post's industry?

From the post title where it names a sector, otherwise from the buyer's stated industry. About 45% of posts can be placed, so this describes those posts, not every buyer in the sector.

## How to read this

A post's industry comes from its title where that names a sector, otherwise from the buyer's stated industry. About 45% of posts can be placed. Figures come from public job posts from December 2025 to November 2026 and show what posts offered, not what was paid. Hourly posts are estimated from rate, length and workload. Industries need 30 priced posts to be ranked, and are left out of rankings when one account makes up over a quarter of posts. Counts under 5 are hidden. Momentum compares January to March with May to July, before collection widened, and is left out where one account is over 12% of posts.