PG&E Rate Plans: Which One Costs Less?
Compare the residential rate plans of the Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E): Tiered Rate Plan (E-1), Electric Home Rate Plan (E-ELEC), Time-of-Use (Peak Pricing 4-9 p.m. Every Day) (E-TOU-C), Time-of-Use (Peak Pricing 5-8 p.m. Weekdays) (E-TOU-D), and Home Charging EV2-A (EV2-A). Enter your monthly usage to see your estimated bill on each plan, what it’s made of, and where the cheapest plan changes.
Sources, dates, and what’s not included
Rate schedules
- Tiered Rate Plan (E-1): rates in effect from June 1, 2026, checked against the official schedule on October 5, 2026. Sources: Electric Schedule E-1 (Residential Services).
- Electric Home Rate Plan (E-ELEC): rates in effect from June 1, 2026, checked against the official schedule on October 5, 2026. Sources: Electric Schedule E-ELEC (Residential Time-of-Use (Electric Home) Service for Customers with Qualifying Electric Technologies).
- Time-of-Use (Peak Pricing 4-9 p.m. Every Day) (E-TOU-C): rates in effect from June 1, 2026, checked against the official schedule on October 5, 2026. Sources: Electric Schedule E-TOU-C (Residential Time-of-Use (Peak Pricing 4 - 9 p.m. Every Day)).
- Time-of-Use (Peak Pricing 5-8 p.m. Weekdays) (E-TOU-D): rates in effect from June 1, 2026, checked against the official schedule on October 5, 2026. Sources: Electric Schedule E-TOU-D (Residential Time-of-Use Peak Pricing 5 - 8 p.m. Non-Holiday Weekdays).
- Home Charging EV2-A (EV2-A): rates in effect from June 1, 2026, checked against the official schedule on October 5, 2026. Sources: Electric Schedule EV2 (Residential Time-of-Use Service for Plug-In Electric Vehicle Customers).
Account questions
- Baseline territory (Tiered Rate Plan (E-1) and Time-of-Use (Peak Pricing 4-9 p.m. Every Day) (E-TOU-C)): Baseline territories are set by county and elevation. Sources: Electric Schedule E-1 (Residential Services), Electric Preliminary Statement Part A (Description of Service Area & General Requirements), Baseline Allowance, Electric Schedule E-TOU-C (Residential Time-of-Use (Peak Pricing 4 - 9 p.m. Every Day)).
- Heating type (Tiered Rate Plan (E-1) and Time-of-Use (Peak Pricing 4-9 p.m. Every Day) (E-TOU-C)): Sources: Electric Schedule E-1 (Residential Services), Electric Schedule E-TOU-C (Residential Time-of-Use (Peak Pricing 4 - 9 p.m. Every Day)).
Not included
- California Energy Commission Tax (the “Energy Commission Tax” line on PG&E’s sample bill) (PG&E, Understand your bill (sample bill); PG&E, Residential rate plan pricing)
- Utility Users’ Tax set by your city or county, at rates that vary by place (for example, the “Fairfield Utility Users' Tax (2.000%)” line on PG&E’s sample bill) (PG&E, Understand your bill (sample bill); PG&E, Residential rate plan pricing)
- The California Climate Credit isn’t included. It’s $36.18 per household on each of the August and September bills, and it doesn’t depend on your usage or rate plan.
- Discounts and charges for the conditions listed under “Account conditions this estimate can’t cover” in the calculator.
Notes
- Annual amounts are estimates at current rates, not a forecast of future bills. Monthly amounts are the year’s total divided by 12.
- Holidays listed in the rate schedules are billed like weekends. Usage on those days is also spread like a weekend day.
- Your monthly kWh is spread over the hours of the day with a typical hourly pattern for homes in seven counties served by PG&E (Santa Clara, Alameda, Contra Costa, San Francisco, San Mateo, Fresno, and Kern), CA, derived from the End-Use Load Profiles for the U.S. Building Stock. The pattern comes from building energy models calibrated to measured data, not from your own meter, so your bill can differ.
- The apartment pattern is based on 2,960 building models, compared with 6,601 for houses, so it is less certain.
- Data includes information from the ResStock™ dataset developed by the National Laboratory of the Rockies (NLR) with funding from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE). Licensed under CC BY 4.0.
- See the methodology for how the usage patterns are made and what the estimates include.
- Choose your Type of home and enter your Monthly usage in kWh. To use different amounts for the hot and cool months, check the box under it and enter both.
- Optionally, choose how much evening use you could move to overnight with Shift evening use to overnight.
- Answer the questions under Your account. Plans you don’t qualify for are listed with the reason instead of a price.
- Read the result: the cheapest plan for you, the monthly and yearly cost on each plan, where the cheapest plan changes, and a line-by-line breakdown. Share the page’s address to share your inputs.
PG&E residential rate plans
- Tiered Rate Plan (E-1). PG&E’s standard residential rate. Prices depend on your monthly use: $0.32561/kWh for Tier 1 (up to 100% of baseline) and $0.40702/kWh for Tier 2 (over 100% of baseline). Base Services Charge of $0.79343 a day.
- Electric Home Rate Plan (E-ELEC). Prices change by time of day: Peak, Partial-Peak, and Off-Peak. Base Services Charge of $0.79343 a day. The Electric Home Rate Plan is only for homes with registered battery electric or plug-in hybrid vehicle charging, battery storage, or an electric heat pump as the main way to heat water or to heat or cool the home.
- Time-of-Use (Peak Pricing 4-9 p.m. Every Day) (E-TOU-C). Prices change by time of day: Peak and Off-Peak. Base Services Charge of $0.79343 a day.
- Time-of-Use (Peak Pricing 5-8 p.m. Weekdays) (E-TOU-D). Prices change by time of day: Peak and Off-Peak. Base Services Charge of $0.79343 a day.
- Home Charging EV2-A (EV2-A). Prices change by time of day: Peak, Partial-Peak, and Off-Peak. Base Services Charge of $0.79343 a day. Home Charging EV2-A is only for homes that charge a registered battery electric or plug-in hybrid vehicle at home, homes that use an electric heat pump as the main way to heat water or to heat or cool the home, and homes in the battery storage pilot.
Average monthly bill by usage
| Plan | 500 kWh | 1,000 kWh | 1,500 kWh |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tiered Rate Plan (E-1) | $203.54 | $407.05 | $610.56 |
| Electric Home Rate Plan (E-ELEC) | $191.73 | $359.32 | $526.92 |
| Time-of-Use (Peak Pricing 4-9 p.m. Every Day) (E-TOU-C) | $198.25 | $396.47 | $594.69 |
| Time-of-Use (Peak Pricing 5-8 p.m. Weekdays) (E-TOU-D) | $202.00 | $379.86 | $557.72 |
| Home Charging EV2-A (EV2-A) | $185.44 | $346.74 | $508.04 |
These figures use the default Baseline territory “Territory X” and Heating type “Code B” for Tiered Rate Plan and Time-of-Use (Peak Pricing 4-9 p.m. Every Day). To use yours, choose them under Your account in the calculator.
The Electric Home Rate Plan is only for homes with registered battery electric or plug-in hybrid vehicle charging, battery storage, or an electric heat pump as the main way to heat water or to heat or cool the home.
Home Charging EV2-A is only for homes that charge a registered battery electric or plug-in hybrid vehicle at home, homes that use an electric heat pump as the main way to heat water or to heat or cool the home, and homes in the battery storage pilot.
Effective price per kWh
The fixed charge is spread over fewer kWh when you use less, so the price per kWh you pay falls as your usage rises. Where the lines cross, the cheaper plan changes.
These figures use the default Baseline territory “Territory X” and Heating type “Code B” for Tiered Rate Plan and Time-of-Use (Peak Pricing 4-9 p.m. Every Day). To use yours, choose them under Your account in the calculator.
| Monthly use | E-1 | E-ELEC | E-TOU-C | E-TOU-D | EV2-A |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 250 kWh | $0.422 | $0.432 | $0.412 | $0.452 | $0.419 |
| 500 kWh | $0.407 | $0.383 | $0.397 | $0.404 | $0.371 |
| 750 kWh | $0.407 | $0.367 | $0.396 | $0.388 | $0.355 |
| 1,000 kWh | $0.407 | $0.359 | $0.396 | $0.380 | $0.347 |
| 1,500 kWh | $0.407 | $0.351 | $0.396 | $0.372 | $0.339 |
| 2,000 kWh | $0.407 | $0.347 | $0.396 | $0.368 | $0.335 |
Compared with the California average
In August 2026, homes in California paid an average of 29.8¢ per kWh, and the average monthly bill was $234.85, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA). The state average mixes every utility and rate plan in California, so it isn’t the price on any PG&E plan.
These figures use the default Baseline territory “Territory X” and Heating type “Code B” for Tiered Rate Plan and Time-of-Use (Peak Pricing 4-9 p.m. Every Day). To use yours, choose them under Your account in the calculator.
| Plan | Effective price at 1,000 kWh | State average |
|---|---|---|
| Tiered Rate Plan (E-1) | 40.7¢/kWh | 29.8¢/kWh |
| Electric Home Rate Plan (E-ELEC) | 35.9¢/kWh | 29.8¢/kWh |
| Time-of-Use (Peak Pricing 4-9 p.m. Every Day) (E-TOU-C) | 39.6¢/kWh | 29.8¢/kWh |
| Time-of-Use (Peak Pricing 5-8 p.m. Weekdays) (E-TOU-D) | 38.0¢/kWh | 29.8¢/kWh |
| Home Charging EV2-A (EV2-A) | 34.7¢/kWh | 29.8¢/kWh |
See the California average price and bill for the last 12 months and the trend over three years.
How the estimate works
- For each month of the current year, your monthly kWh is spread over the days and hours with the typical hourly pattern for your type of home. Weekdays and weekends have different patterns, and holidays use the weekend pattern.
- If you shift evening use, that share of each day’s use from 5 p.m.–9 p.m. moves evenly to midnight–6 a.m., and your total use stays the same.
- Each hour is matched to the plan’s time period for that month and day, priced at the plan’s rate, and added up. The fixed charge (a monthly amount, or a daily amount times the days in the month), the per-kWh adjustment, and any credit you qualify for are separate lines. Each line is rounded to the cent, and the bill is the sum of the lines.
- On a tiered plan, the price depends on the month’s total kWh, not the hour. Use up to the tier limit is priced at the first tier’s rate, and use above it at the next tier’s rate. When the limit is a share of your baseline allowance, the allowance is the daily amount for your territory, heating type, and season times the days in the month.
- A baseline credit is figured on the month’s total kWh up to your baseline allowance (the daily amount times the days in the month) and shown as its own line, whatever the time of day.
- The annual estimate adds up 12 monthly bills at the rates in effect now. Every plan gets the same usage, so the differences come only from the rates.
- If a plan’s rates are being rechecked, for example after a scheduled rate change, the calculator shows its estimate at the last checked rates and stops ranking it until the check is done.