Electricity rates in California

Three investor-owned utilities, Pacific Gas and Electric, Southern California Edison and San Diego Gas and Electric, own the wires serving most of California under the California Public Utilities Commission, while public utilities such as the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power and the Sacramento Municipal Utility District serve their own cities. In many areas a community choice aggregator buys the power and the utility delivers it, so bills show separate generation and delivery charges.

Generation leans on natural gas, solar, hydro, wind, geothermal, the Diablo Canyon nuclear plant and imports. The mild coastal climate keeps household usage modest, although inland valleys and deserts need heavy summer air-conditioning. Time-of-use rates are the default for most households, rooftop solar is extremely common, and newer solar customers are credited under a net billing scheme that pays less for exports, so new systems are often paired with batteries.