California Electricity Rates and Average Electric Bill Guide

The California bill sits close to the national figure. Prices run 82% above the national price and households use 44% less electricity than the typical US household, and those two gaps nearly cancel each other out.

Over a year, the average California household pays about $1,857 for electricity. The state ranks 20th highest for the monthly bill, 2nd highest for price per kWh and 1st lowest for use, out of 51 places (50 states and DC).

Source: EIA Form EIA-861 final 2025 data, residential sector. Bills are revenue divided by customers, divided by 12.

Want to see where your own bill falls? Use the bill checker or read the average bill guide for apartments, houses and different household sizes.

Investor-owned utilities serve the largest share of California households at 75%. municipal utilities (14%) and public power districts and state or federal systems (6%) cover most of the rest. EIA lists 32 utilities and electricity suppliers with customers in California.

See every utility that reports customers here on the electric companies in California page.

If you do not know who serves your address, the find my electric company tool matches your county to a utility.

Residential direct access to a competitive supplier is capped and closed to most households. Many cities and counties run community choice aggregation programs instead, which change who buys the power while the local utility still delivers it.

Utilities in California reported an average of 2 hours and 20 minutes without power per customer in 2025, with 1.06 interruptions per customer, when major storm days are left out. That outage time is close to the median state (127 minutes).

Customers in California had 2,290,366 net-metered residential solar systems with a combined 20,041.1 megawatts of capacity in 2025. That works out to 159.4 systems for every 1,000 households, which ranks 2 of 51 places. Net metering lets a home with solar offset what it uses from the grid, so it changes the bill math for those households. Our net metering guide explains how the credit works.

Outage figures are reported by utilities and follow different standards, so compare states with care. The median state averaged 127 minutes of outage per customer in 2025.

• Check your rate before your habits. Usage here is close to or below the national figure, so the plan and the price per kWh on your bill often matter more than conservation. Our bill reading guide shows where to look.
• Ask about time-of-use pricing. 7 of the 8 largest providers report residential time-of-use programs in EIA data. If you can shift laundry, charging and cooling to cheaper hours, the savings can be real. Our time-of-use guide explains how to test it.
• Ask about budget billing. Many utilities spread costs across the year. Read how budget billing works before you sign up.
• Price your appliances. The electricity cost calculator shows what a space heater, dryer or pool pump costs to run at your rate.

Electric rates and consumer complaints in California are handled by the California Public Utilities Commission. If you have a billing dispute you could not settle with your utility, the regulator is the next step.