Understanding Your PG&E Bill

Why California Electricity Is So Expensive

California has some of the highest electricity rates in the nation. The statewide average sits at roughly 30 to 32 cents per kilowatt hour compared with a national average of around 16 cents. PG&E customers in particular pay among the highest rates in the country.

A big part of the reason is that PG&E has raised rates significantly in recent years to fund wildfire prevention work, infrastructure upgrades, and ongoing grid maintenance. Those costs do not appear to be going away, and rate increases are projected to continue in the years ahead.

Fresno and other Central Valley homeowners feel this acutely. Summer temperatures push air conditioners to run constantly, which drives up consumption at exactly the time of year when rates and time-of-use pricing hit hardest. The result is summer bills that frequently land in the $300 to $500 range or higher.

What Is Actually On Your Bill

The lines on a PG&E bill can feel like a different language. In simple terms, your bill is made up of a few major pieces:

• Generation charge — what you pay for the actual electricity itself.
• Delivery charge — what you pay for the wires, poles, transformers, and infrastructure that get electricity to your home.
• Baseline allowance — a lower per-kWh rate for your first tier of usage each month.
• Tiered or time-of-use rates — higher usage or usage during expensive hours costs more per kWh.
• Fixed monthly charges — a set amount you owe regardless of how little electricity you use.
• Taxes and program fees — state and local charges that fund various energy and equity programs.

Time of Use Rates and Why They Matter for Solar

PG&E charges different rates depending on what time of day you use electricity. Peak hours — typically from 4 PM to 9 PM on weekdays — are by far the most expensive. Off-peak and overnight hours are noticeably cheaper.

This timing matters a lot for solar. Panels produce the most electricity during the middle of the day when rates are relatively low. Production drops off in the late afternoon and early evening — exactly when rates climb to their peak. If you are sending excess midday solar to the grid and then buying expensive evening power back, the math works against you.

This is one of the main reasons batteries have become so important under NEM 3.0. A battery lets you store the cheap midday electricity your panels produce and use it during the expensive evening peak hours instead of paying premium grid rates.

How Solar Affects Your PG&E Bill

Solar reduces or eliminates the generation portion of your bill — the part you pay for the actual electricity. What it generally does not eliminate are the fixed delivery charges, connection fees, and program fees that show up regardless of how much you generate.

Under NEM 3.0, excess solar exported to the grid earns roughly 5 to 8 cents per kilowatt hour in credit. The grid electricity you buy back at night still costs you 30+ cents per kilowatt hour. That gap is the key reason exporting unused solar is no longer a strong financial strategy on its own.

Adding a battery changes the picture meaningfully. By storing midday production for use during expensive peak hours, the battery dramatically reduces the amount of high-priced electricity you have to buy from the grid each month.

The Long Term Picture

PG&E rates have increased consistently over the past decade and are widely expected to continue rising. While no one can guarantee what utility prices will look like 10 or 15 years from now, the historical trend is hard to ignore.

Solar essentially locks in a more predictable energy cost for the life of the system. For homeowners with suitable roofs and meaningful electric bills, that predictability is one of the strongest long-term arguments for going solar in California.