State electricity profile · EIA monthly through May 2026
California Electricity
As of May 2026, residential electricity in California costs 33.25¢ per kWh (-0.1% vs May 2025). EIA publishes these figures monthly and this page follows them. California's 2025 annual residential electricity rate is 32.54¢/kWh, 88.1% above the US average. That is an above-average rate on a grid already 61% renewable, so the price here is not waiting on more clean generation to arrive. The commercial, industrial and fuel-by-fuel figures below show where it does come from.
- 33.25¢
- May 2026 rate
- -0.1%
- year over year
- 32.54¢/kWh
- Residential rate
- +88.1%
- vs US average
- 61%
- Renewable
- 14.7M
- Customers
Verify with EIA → · Methodology
32.54¢/kWh residential, 26.36¢/kWh commercial
In the U.S. Energy Information Administration's 2025 annual-frequency retail-sales series, California's residential average revenue per kWh is 32.54¢/kWh, with a commercial average of 26.36¢/kWh and an industrial average of 21.62¢/kWh; a separate EIA generation series for 2025 reports 61% of the state's generation from renewables.
- 88.1% above the US average vs national residential average
- 61% renewable generation
The verdict · 2025
California's residential electricity runs 32.54¢/kWh - 88.1% above the 17.30¢/kWh national average, pricier than 98% of other states, with 61% of its power from renewables.
This is EIA state average revenue per kWh across 14.7M reported residential customers, a benchmark for comparing states, not the tariff on any single bill. Source: EIA retail-sales API, annual frequency.
Annual rate change
What changed in the 2025 annual EIA period
- California's commercial average rose from 25.54¢/kWh to 26.36¢/kWh between the 2024 and 2025 annual-frequency EIA retail-sales periods, a change of +3.2%.
- California's residential average rose from 31.97¢/kWh to 32.54¢/kWh between the 2024 and 2025 annual-frequency EIA retail-sales periods, a change of +1.8%.
- California's industrial average rose from 21.53¢/kWh to 21.62¢/kWh between the 2024 and 2025 annual-frequency EIA retail-sales periods, a change of +0.4%.
Where California's residential rate sits nationally
2025 average revenue per kWh across every reporting state
32.54¢/kWh 2nd affordability percentile More affordable than 2% of 50 other states
all reporting states, equal-width bands
Each bar spans 5¢/kWh. Taller bars contain more states; the dashed marker locates this state. Hover, focus or tap a bar for its exact count and share.
Source U.S. Energy Information Administration, retail-sales API · 2025 annual frequency
How California compares
Average revenue per kWh, EIA retail-sales API. Pick a benchmark above to compare California against the US average or a peer state.
Residential Price History
California residential average revenue per kWh moved from 17.39¢/kWh in 2016 to 32.54¢/kWh in 2025 (87.1% over the window).
- California residential avg
- 32.54¢/kWh 87.1% since 2016
- 2016 → 2025
- California residential: 2016, 17.4¢
- California residential: 2017, 18.3¢
- California residential: 2018, 18.8¢
- California residential: 2019, 19.2¢
- California residential: 2020, 20.5¢
- California residential: 2021, 22.8¢
- California residential: 2022, 25.8¢
- California residential: 2023, 29.5¢
- California residential: 2024, 32¢
- California residential: 2025, 32.5¢
Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration, retail-sales API · annual frequency. California full trend →
California Average Price by Sector and Year (¢/kWh)
The chart above tracks households only. In 2025, California households paid 32.54¢/kWh while businesses paid 26.36¢/kWh, a 23.4% residential premium, a moderate household-versus-business gap. Every year EIA has published is below, so a single year can be read across all three sectors rather than assembled from three separate EIA queries.
| Year | Residential | Commercial | Industrial |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 32.54¢/kWh | 26.36¢/kWh | 21.62¢/kWh |
| 2024 | 31.97¢/kWh | 25.54¢/kWh | 21.53¢/kWh |
| 2023 | 29.51¢/kWh | 23.91¢/kWh | 18.64¢/kWh |
| 2022 | 25.84¢/kWh | 21.81¢/kWh | 17.09¢/kWh |
| 2021 | 22.82¢/kWh | 19.18¢/kWh | 14.82¢/kWh |
| 2020 | 20.45¢/kWh | 17.53¢/kWh | 14.27¢/kWh |
| 2019 | 19.15¢/kWh | 16.67¢/kWh | 13.40¢/kWh |
| 2018 | 18.84¢/kWh | 16.34¢/kWh | 13.20¢/kWh |
| 2017 | 18.31¢/kWh | 15.76¢/kWh | 12.73¢/kWh |
| 2016 | 17.39¢/kWh | 15.07¢/kWh | 11.92¢/kWh |
Average revenue per kilowatt-hour, U.S. Energy Information Administration annual-frequency retail-sales series. Revenue per kWh is what customers in each sector actually paid on average, not an advertised tariff rate. Years with no EIA figure for a sector show —.
What California's Electricity Data Tells Us
Residential customers in California pay 32.54¢/kWh in 2025, across 14.7M metered households, placing the state 88.1% above the national residential average of 17.30¢/kWh. Commercial rates sit at 26.36¢/kWh while industrial buyers pay 21.62¢/kWh. These sector averages describe recorded revenue per kWh; this dataset alone does not establish why they differ. Annual residential sales total 81.9M MWh on roughly $26.7B in utility revenue. Sales and revenue are reported retail-series measures and should not be treated as a local load forecast.
California prices its sectors in step: 2 of 51 residential against 3 industrial. A state this consistent is the exception rather than the rule, and it means the residential figure above is a fair proxy for how the whole grid is priced. No single fuel reaches half of California's in-state generation. Solar leads at 38.0%, with natural gas at 30.9% close enough behind that the mix reads as a balance rather than a clear lead. It is the leading fuel in 2 states. Renewable fuels (solar, wind, hydro, geothermal and biomass) account for 61.4% of California's electricity output. These shares describe in-state generation, not a utility-specific customer bill.
Looking back across EIA records, residential prices in California moved from 17.39¢/kWh in 2016 to 32.54¢/kWh in 2025, a 87.1% shift over that window. States charging a similar rate include Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, a useful peer set for a sanity check. Solar output peaks hours before household demand does, so California's cost picture is shaped by what serves the evening rather than by a fuel price. The rate above therefore reflects storage, imports and peak capacity more than anything a fuel market did this year. At this level it matters what the figure is made of: it is total revenue divided by total kilowatt-hours, so delivery, taxes and fees are inside it but never broken out. In a state as dear as California that hides which part of the bill a household could actually act on.
+88.1%
Much more expensive vs the US residential average
2%
of states have higher rates — Among the costliest
61%
Significant renewable — above the 25% US mix
14.7M
residential customers served
Energy Generation Mix (2025)
How California generates its electricity, from the EIA generation series for 2025 (separate from the 2025 retail-sales price figures above). Renewable sources account for 61.4% of generation.
- Solarrenewable38.0%
- Natural Gas30.9%
- Hydrorenewable11.7%
- Nuclear7.4%
- Windrenewable6.9%
- Geothermalrenewable4.5%
- Biomassrenewable0.3%
- Pumped Storage0.1%
- Coal0.1%
Who generates California's electricity
California has 2,927 operable generating units on EIA's inventory totalling 100,625 MW of net summer capacity. The largest single plant is Diablo Canyon , a nuclear station operated by Pacific Gas & Electric Co. , rated 2,240 MW.
Balancing authorities keep supply and demand matched on the grid; the largest here by capacity are California Independent System Operator, Los Angeles Department of Water and Power and Balancing Authority of Northern California.
Showing the 16 largest of 1,810 operable plants in California by net summer capacity.
| Plant | Operator | Technology | County | MW |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Diablo Canyon | Pacific Gas & Electric Co. | Nuclear | – | 2,240 |
| Castaic | Los Angeles Department of Water & Power | Hydroelectric Pumped Storage | – | 1,675 |
| Haynes | Los Angeles Department of Water & Power | Natural Gas Fired Combined Cycle | – | 1,599 |
| Ormond Beach | Ormond Beach Power, LLC | Natural Gas Steam Turbine | – | 1,491 |
| Dynegy Moss Landing Power Plant Hybrid | Dynegy -Moss Landing LLC | Batteries | – | 1,470 |
| Helms Pumped Storage | Pacific Gas & Electric Co. | Hydroelectric Pumped Storage | – | 1,212 |
| AES Alamitos LLC | AES Alamitos LLC | Natural Gas Steam Turbine | – | 1,142 |
| Mountainview Generating Station | Southern California Edison Co | Natural Gas Fired Combined Cycle | – | 1,018 |
| La Paloma Generating Plant | CXA La Paloma LLC | Natural Gas Fired Combined Cycle | – | 1,010 |
| Bellefield Solar and Energy Storage Farm | 50LW 8me LLC | Solar Photovoltaic | – | 1,000 |
| High Desert Power Plant | MRP Generation Holdings, LLC | Natural Gas Fired Combined Cycle | – | 889 |
| Delta Energy Center | Delta Energy Center LLC | Natural Gas Fired Combined Cycle | – | 842 |
| Sentinel Energy Center, LLC | Sentinel Energy Center LLC | Natural Gas Fired Combustion Turbine | – | 800 |
| Scattergood | Los Angeles Department of Water & Power | Natural Gas Fired Combined Cycle | – | 776 |
| Marsh Landing Generating Station | Marsh Landing LLC | Natural Gas Fired Combustion Turbine | – | 765 |
| Pastoria Energy Facility, LLC | Calpine Corp - Pastoria Energy Center | Natural Gas Fired Combined Cycle | – | 757 |
| Operating company | Plants | Net summer MW |
|---|---|---|
| Pacific Gas & Electric Co. | 60 | 7,446 |
| Los Angeles Department of Water & Power | 26 | 5,462 |
| Southern California Edison Co | 34 | 2,662 |
| Sacramento Municipal Util Dist | 14 | 2,097 |
| U S Bureau of Reclamation | 11 | 2,080 |
| California Dept. of Water Resources | 8 | 1,650 |
| Terra-Gen Operating Co-Hybrid | 10 | 1,607 |
| MN8 Energy LLC | 66 | 1,551 |
| Ormond Beach Power, LLC | 1 | 1,491 |
| Dynegy -Moss Landing LLC | 1 | 1,470 |
Operable units only, from EIA's generator inventory as reported for 2026-05. Capacity is net summer rating, which is what a unit can reliably deliver in peak conditions rather than its nameplate figure. Ownership and operatorship can differ; the company shown is the one EIA records as operating the unit.
Market Overview
Residential Revenue
$26.7B
Commercial Revenue
$29.9B
Residential Sales
81.9M MWh
Residential Customers
14.7M
States with Similar Electricity Prices
Other states led by solar
These grids also report solar as their largest generation share in the latest EIA mix — a different peer set from the price neighbors above.
Frequently Asked Questions
How much does electricity cost in California? ▼
Where does California's residential electricity rate rank nationally? ▼
How much of California's electricity is renewable? ▼
Are electricity prices going up in California? ▼
What are commercial and industrial electricity rates in California? ▼
Which energy sources generate the most electricity in California? ▼
Where does RateWatt's California electricity data come from? ▼
Using California's numbers
A grid this renewable is close to the end of the supply-build phase, so California's rate is increasingly set by what it costs to keep power available in the hours renewables do not cover, not by adding more of them.
- California sits 88.1% above the national average, see exactly where it lands among all 50 states. See the rankings
- Check the multi-year trend before you judge the rate, a low price rising fast can cost more over a decade than a steady one. California price trend
- Compare California side by side with the US average and peer states using the tool above, then estimate your own bill from your monthly kWh. Cost calculator
Figures are EIA state averages by sector, computed as revenue divided by sales, so delivery and taxes are inside them but not broken out. Your actual rate depends on your utility, plan, and usage, see our disclaimer.
Read with California: why energy prices vary
Where California's figures come from
Every price and generation figure on this page is drawn from the EIA series below, and from nothing else.
- 📊 EIA State Energy Profile, California State energy database
- ⚡ EIA Electric Power Monthly The monthly and annual price series behind every rate here
- 🌿 EIA generation by source The in-state generation shares quoted above
- 📖 Our methodology Source-to-figure lineage, and further federal energy references
Utilities serving California
The 39 utilities that reported bundled residential service in California to EIA Form 861 (2024), largest first. Entity prices below are Form 861 averages for that release, not the same survey as the 2025 retail-sales statewide average above, and not a household tariff. What an individual household pays depends on which of these serves its address.
| Utility | Ownership | Customers | Avg ¢/kWh |
|---|---|---|---|
| Southern California Edison Co | Investor Owned | 3.2M | 32.43¢ |
| Pacific Gas & Electric Co. | Investor Owned | 1.9M | 39.62¢ |
| Los Angeles Department of Water & Power | Municipal | 1.4M | 23.84¢ |
| Sacramento Municipal Util Dist | Political Subdivision | 592.6K | 17.87¢ |
| Sunrun Inc. | Behind the Meter | 325.6K | 25.86¢ |
| San Diego Gas & Electric Co | Investor Owned | 308.0K | 43.63¢ |
| Tesla Inc. | Behind the Meter | 147.4K | 18.56¢ |
| Imperial Irrigation District | Political Subdivision | 142.1K | 17.91¢ |
| City of Anaheim - (CA) | Municipal | 105.8K | 17.11¢ |
| Modesto Irrigation District | Political Subdivision | 103.7K | 21.78¢ |
| City of Riverside - (CA) | Municipal | 100.5K | 20.20¢ |
| Turlock Irrigation District | Political Subdivision | 80.6K | 16.34¢ |
| City of Glendale - (CA) | Municipal | 77.6K | 33.81¢ |
| SunPower Capital, LLC | Behind the Meter | 71.5K | 24.24¢ |
| City of Roseville - (CA) | Municipal | 63.1K | 18.66¢ |
Showing the 15 largest of 39 reporting utilities. The 11 serving 100.0K+ residential customers link to a full profile. Presence in EIA Form 861 is not evidence that a utility is available at a given address or that a customer may choose it.
Related
Disclaimer: This information is provided for informational purposes only and does not constitute professional advice. Data is sourced from the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA). Consult a qualified professional before making decisions based on this data.
Every figure on RateWatt is rendered directly from official U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) data, no number is typed in by an editor. Statewide prices use the EIA retail-sales annual series (2025). Generation mix uses a separate EIA generation series (2025). Utility rows use Form EIA-861 (2024) and are not averaged into the statewide retail-sales figure. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error. Data current as of 2025.