US PowerGrade

The average electric bill in California

California households paid $154.73 a month for electricity in 2025, at 31.35¢ per kilowatt-hour for 494 kWh a month. That is 5% above the national median, and ranks #20 of 51 states, most expensive first.

Monthly bill
$154.73
US median $147.18
Price
31.35¢
per kWh · US 15.39¢
Usage
494
kWh per month
Households
14,371,581
residential accounts

What each California utility charges, most expensive first

San Diego Gas & Electric Co charges 45.77¢ per kWh and Surprise Valley Electrification charges 13.50¢ — 3.4× apart inside one state. You do not usually get to choose between them; your address does.

#UtilityPriceTypical billvs US median
1San Diego Gas & Electric CoInvestor Owned · 284,416 homes45.77¢per kWh$167.87367 kWh/mo3.31× dearer
2Bear Valley Electric ServiceInvestor Owned · 23,395 homes41.12¢per kWh$122.37298 kWh/mo2.97× dearer
3City of Moreno Valley - (CA)Municipal · 7,952 homes40.60¢per kWh$187.89463 kWh/mo2.93× dearer
4Pacific Gas & Electric Co.Investor Owned · 1,738,444 homes37.52¢per kWh$173.95464 kWh/mo2.71× dearer
5City of Glendale - (CA)Municipal · 78,071 homes35.51¢per kWh$138.89391 kWh/mo2.57× dearer
6Southern California Edison CoInvestor Owned · 3,262,177 homes31.48¢per kWh$149.07474 kWh/mo2.27× dearer
7Liberty UtilitiesInvestor Owned · 44,507 homes27.65¢per kWh$141.13510 kWh/mo2.00× dearer
8City & County of San Francisco - (CA)Municipal · 3,670 homes27.13¢per kWh$295.481,089 kWh/mo1.96× dearer
9Los Angeles Department of Water & PowerMunicipal · 1,415,602 homes26.48¢per kWh$124.20469 kWh/mo1.91× dearer
10City of Pasadena - (CA)Municipal · 58,602 homes25.11¢per kWh$115.61460 kWh/mo1.81× dearer
11PacifiCorpInvestor Owned · 36,339 homes24.18¢per kWh$200.43829 kWh/mo1.75× dearer
12Merced Irrigation DistrictPolitical Subdivision · 11,850 homes24.15¢per kWh$144.10597 kWh/mo1.74× dearer
13Alameda Municipal PowerMunicipal · 32,364 homes24.01¢per kWh$86.77361 kWh/mo1.73× dearer
14Modesto Irrigation DistrictPolitical Subdivision · 104,671 homes23.03¢per kWh$173.07751 kWh/mo1.66× dearer
15City of Colton - (CA)Municipal · 17,367 homes23.00¢per kWh$118.87517 kWh/mo1.66× dearer
16City of Shasta Lake - (CA)Municipal · 4,278 homes22.91¢per kWh$179.91785 kWh/mo1.66× dearer
17City of Lodi - (CA)Municipal · 24,215 homes22.78¢per kWh$128.02562 kWh/mo1.65× dearer
18City of Riverside - (CA)Municipal · 101,042 homes21.94¢per kWh$135.25616 kWh/mo1.59× dearer
19City of Burbank Water and Power - (CA)Municipal · 46,719 homes21.50¢per kWh$105.63491 kWh/mo1.55× dearer
20City of Palo Alto - (CA)Municipal · 25,672 homes21.36¢per kWh$110.23516 kWh/mo1.54× dearer
21City of Roseville - (CA)Municipal · 64,556 homes21.29¢per kWh$145.07681 kWh/mo1.54× dearer
22City of AzusaMunicipal · 15,646 homes20.77¢per kWh$104.38503 kWh/mo1.50× dearer
23City of Anaheim - (CA)Municipal · 107,148 homes19.37¢per kWh$92.09476 kWh/mo1.40× dearer
24City of Redding - (CA)Municipal · 39,152 homes18.97¢per kWh$152.25803 kWh/mo1.37× dearer
25Sacramento Municipal Util DistPolitical Subdivision · 601,275 homes18.93¢per kWh$125.42663 kWh/mo1.37× dearer
26Imperial Irrigation DistrictPolitical Subdivision · 142,916 homes18.69¢per kWh$202.301,083 kWh/mo1.35× dearer
27City of Santa Clara - (CA)Municipal · 54,000 homes17.88¢per kWh$71.17398 kWh/mo1.29× dearer
28Turlock Irrigation DistrictPolitical Subdivision · 80,976 homes17.40¢per kWh$141.66814 kWh/mo1.26× dearer
29City of Corona - (CA)Municipal · 1,305 homes15.76¢per kWh$83.83532 kWh/mo1.14× dearer
30Surprise Valley ElectrificationCooperative · 2,788 homes13.50¢per kWh$127.93948 kWh/mo1.03× cheaper

Price is residential revenue divided by residential kilowatt-hours sold, for bundled service only. Typical bill is that utility’s residential revenue spread over its residential accounts and twelve months, not a quoted tariff. The median priced utility charges 13.84¢ per kWh.

Price is only half of it

The median California utility also leaves customers without power for 1.7 hours a year. A cheap utility that is out for two days a year is not obviously a bargain. See California utilities ranked by outage time, or the utilities that charge the most and deliver the least.

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