Elektrėnai is one of the newest towns of Lithuania, having been established during the Soviet occupation in the early 1960s as the living space for workers of the nearby power plant.

It was expanded in the 1980s and early 1990s as a residence for builders and workers at the nearby Kruonis Pumped Storage Plant.

The name of the new town was derived from word elektra (English: electricity) – a borrowing to Lithuanian language from Greek.

Two National Hockey League players: Darius Kasparaitis and Dainius Zubrus were born in Elektrėnai.

Inhabitants of Elektrėnai make up a considerable part of the national ice hockey team.