California

Residential electricity rates · latest Apr 2026

Avg monthly bill

$138

⚾ The monthly tab

Typical residential bill — $36 higher than the 2019 average.

Residential rate

35.3¢

⚾ Price per kWh

Cents per kilowatt-hour. +84% vs. the 2019 average.

National rank

2nd

⚾ League rank

Fastest-rising residential rate since 2019, of 51 states.

Home vs. industry

35.3¢ / 19.9¢

⚾ Home vs. away

Homes pay 35.3¢/kWh; large industry pays 19.9¢/kWh — 77% more for households.

Your rate vs. grid demand

CAISO demand · California rate

Amber = the grid region's average demand (GW, left). Red = the state's residential rate (¢/kWh, right). The rate line ends a couple months early because EIA reports retail data on a lag.

Homes vs. industry

California · ¢/kWh

What households pay (red) vs. large industrial users (dashed). The shaded band is the gap — the affordability story behind data-center load growth.

Most of California's power runs through CAISO, where grid demand rose 6% over the same period — a signature of the always-on, data-center-driven load reshaping the grid.

EIA derives the rate as revenue ÷ electricity sold — a proxy, not a surveyed tariff. Rates rise for many reasons (fuel costs, grid upgrades, storms), not data centers alone, so this shows correlation, not causation. Note the rate is a statewide residential average while the demand is the regional grid operator's — related, but not the same geography.