Average Electric Bill in California
Residential · 12-month average, June 2025 – May 2026.
That works out to about $1,921 a year. Among the 50 states and DC, California has the 20th highest average residential bill.
What makes up the bill
Price × usage = bill, exactly: 32.79¢/kWh × 488 kWh ≈ $160. A state can land high on either factor — California pays well above the national rate but uses less power than average.
Compared with nearby states
| California | $160 | |
|---|---|---|
| U.S. average | $155 | |
| Arizona | $160 | |
| Oregon | $132 | |
| Nevada | $115 |
California is $5 a month above (+3.0%) the U.S. average of $155. Neighboring states share fuel mixes, weather, and often a grid operator, which makes them a closer benchmark than the national average.
Trend since 2008
Each point is a trailing 12-month average, which strips out the summer/winter swing and leaves the underlying trend. Bills start in January 2008 because that is when EIA began reporting customer counts.
Seasonal swing
- Highest month
- $202
- September 2025
- Lowest month
- $134
- November 2025
- Swing
- $69
- peak minus low
- Latest month
- $136
- May 2026
Actual bills are far from flat: California peaks in September 2025 and bottoms out in November 2025. The headline figure above is the average across all twelve months.
California electricity bills in context
California's average monthly electricity bill in the twelve months since June 2025 is $160, placing it twentieth among the fifty states and DC, counting down from the most expensive. The bill has declined 1.2% from the prior year's $162. Over the five years since May 2021, it has climbed 31.1% from $122, and since records began in December 2008, it has nearly doubled, rising 97.4% from $81 annually.
At 32.79¢/kWh, California's electricity price sits 14.95¢/kWh above the national average of 17.84¢/kWh. This higher rate pushes the bill 3% above the national figure of $155. Offsetting part of this pressure is the state's residential usage of 488 kWh per month, which runs 383 kWh below the national average of 871 kWh, reducing the burden on household budgets.
Seasonal variation dominates the year. September 2025 brought the peak of $202, while November 2025 hit a low of $134, a spread of $68 around the twelve-month average. Among bordering states, California's bill matches Arizona's $160 but exceeds Oregon's $132 and Nevada's $115.
Written from the EIA figures on this page, covering data through May 2026.
Frequently asked questions
›How much is the average electric bill in California?
›Is the electric bill in California higher than the national average?
›Why is electricity expensive in California?
›When is the electric bill highest in California?
›How does California compare with neighboring states?
How this is calculated
EIA’s retail-sales dataset reports, for every state and month, total residential revenue and the number of residential customers served. The average monthly bill is simply the first divided by the second — total spending across all households, spread evenly over all accounts.
bill = revenue ÷ customers · averaged over 12 months (June 2025 – May 2026)
Two caveats worth knowing. It is an average, so it blends apartments with large houses — a typical household in California may pay well above or below $160. And it counts what was actually billed for electricity, including fixed service charges, so it is not the same as multiplying your own usage by the advertised rate.
Looking for the rate rather than the bill? See California electricity prices by sector.