Your new California Electric Bill


On Tuesday May 15, 2001, the Public Utilities Commission approved a new variable rate scale for electric utilities. Under this plan, customers that use the most electricity will pay the highest rates.

See the details of the rate scale, or refer to the actual PUC decision.

Use this calculator to estimate how much you will pay under the new rate structure.

Using the Calculator

Obtain the Baseline Quantity and Actual Usage from your most recent electric utility bill (see sample below), and enter them in the two fields below. Then click on the Calculate button and observe the results in the window.

Baseline Quantity        Actual Usage       


Sample Bill

On the sample P.G. & E. bill below, the Baseline Quantity is circled in blue and the Actual Usage is circle in red.

Rate Scale

 
Tier Usage (% of baseline)
Cost per KWH
1st tier up to 100%
$0.13
2nd tier 100% to 130%
$0.15
3rd tier 130% to 200%
$0.20
4th tier 200% ato 300%
$0.24
5th tier more than 300%
$0.26

Note that 1st and 2nd tier rates did NOT increase.  The increases for the 3rd, 4th, and 5th tiers are 30%, 56%, and 71%, respectively.  This means that about half of California customers are not affected by this rate change.


The values provided by the calculator are only estimates and are intended for informational use only.  There is no guarantee of accuracy or fitness of use for any particular purpose.
View our test results.

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