ratepayer

noun

rate·​pay·​er ˈrāt-ˌpā-ər 

1

British : taxpayer

2

: one who pays for a utility service and especially electricity according to established rates

Examples of ratepayer in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Every dollar swimming in this pond comes from taxpayers, ratepayers or consumers, all paying higher taxes, rates and prices as costs are passed through. —Susan Shelley, Oc Register, 7 Dec. 2025

Or could the utility overbuild and stick other ratepayers with the bill? —CBS News, 5 Dec. 2025

Given its high cost–both financially and in its toll on public health–and its frequent outages, backtracking on coal retirements has nothing but downsides for Pueblo and Xcel ratepayers. —Jamie Valdez, Denver Post, 24 Nov. 2025

One burning question is whether the forecasts are based on data center projects that may never get built — eliciting concern that regular ratepayers could be stuck with the bill to build unnecessary power plants and grid infrastructure at a cost of billions of dollars. —Sasha Rogelberg, Fortune, 16 Nov. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1845, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for ratepayer

• interlayer
• monolayer
• multilayer
• multiplayer
• overlayer
• assayer
• ballplayer
• betrayer
• bilayer
• bricklayer
• conveyer
• conveyor