Average kWh per Day in California, and How Your Home Compares
The average California home uses about 16.5 kWh of electricity a day. EIA's 2024 data puts residential use at 503 kWh a month, roughly 6,038 kWh a year, which is about 58% of the U.S. average of 28.4 kWh a day. Your own number depends on climate, home size, heating fuel and whether you charge an EV.
Knowing your kWh per day is the fastest way to tell a usage problem from a price problem, and it is the number a solar or battery proposal should start from. Prices per kWh at each utility are on the California utility rate tracker; this page is about the kWh.
Daily electricity use
- Western single-family detached
- ≈28.2 kWh/day
- 2020 survey, West region
- U.S. EIA RECSchecked Sep 23, 2026
How to find your own kWh per day
Every California bill shows two numbers you need: total kWh and the number of days in the billing period. Divide the first by the second. A 30-day bill for 450 kWh is 15 kWh a day; a 33-day bill for the same 450 kWh is about 13.6. Do it for the same month last year before you decide your usage went up. LADWP bills residential customers every two months, so its periods run about 60 days.
A single day is noisy. For sizing solar or a battery, use a full year: add up twelve months of kWh and divide by 365. Utility online accounts show usage history; LADWP's, for example, has an Analyze My Usage chart.
Why California homes use less than the U.S. average
In EIA's 2024 table, California ranks second-lowest of the 50 states and D.C. for electricity use per home; only Hawaii is lower. The biggest users were Louisiana, Mississippi and Tennessee, at roughly 1,150 to 1,200 kWh a month, more than twice California's 503. A statewide average also hides a wide spread inside California: the baseline tables below give SCE's hottest region three to four times the summer allowance of its cool regions.
Daily use by type of home
EIA's Residential Energy Consumption Survey breaks usage down by home type, but only by region, not by state. The figures below are for the West census region, which includes hotter Arizona and Nevada as well as California, from the 2020 survey, the latest with usage data. EIA says the 2024 survey's usage tables will come out in spring 2027.
| Type of home | kWh per year | About kWh per day |
|---|---|---|
| All Western homes | 8,608 | 23.6 |
| Apartment, building with 5+ units | 5,086 | 13.9 |
| Apartment, building with 2–4 units | 5,644 | 15.5 |
| Single-family attached (townhouse) | 6,465 | 17.7 |
| Mobile home | 9,153 | 25.1 |
| Single-family detached | 10,287 | 28.2 |
| Under 1,000 sq ft | 5,362 | 14.7 |
| 1,500 to 1,999 sq ft | 9,492 | 26.0 |
| 3,000 sq ft or more | 13,118 | 35.9 |
| One-person household | 5,635 | 15.4 |
| Four-person household | 10,303 | 28.2 |
Source: U.S. EIA, 2020 RECS Table CE2.5, physical units, checked September 23, 2026. Daily figures are our division by 365.
Baseline allowances: the kWh billed at the lowest price
California's investor-owned utilities give every home a baseline allowance, a daily amount of electricity billed at the lowest residential price. PG&E's bill glossary says the CPUC bases it on average use in each baseline territory. Your territory or region is printed on your bill. Multiply the daily figure by the days in your billing period to get your monthly allowance.
| Territory | Basic electric, summer | Basic electric, winter | All-electric, summer | All-electric, winter |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| P | 13.5 | 11.0 | 15.2 | 26.0 |
| Q | 9.8 | 11.0 | 8.5 | 26.0 |
| R | 17.7 | 10.4 | 19.9 | 26.7 |
| S | 15.0 | 10.2 | 17.8 | 23.7 |
| T | 6.5 | 7.5 | 7.1 | 12.9 |
| V | 7.1 | 8.1 | 10.4 | 19.1 |
| W | 19.2 | 9.8 | 22.4 | 19.0 |
| X | 9.8 | 9.7 | 8.5 | 14.6 |
| Y | 10.5 | 11.1 | 12.0 | 24.0 |
| Z | 5.9 | 7.8 | 6.7 | 15.7 |
Source: PG&E Residential Baseline Territories and Quantities, effective June 1, 2022 to present, checked September 23, 2026. Summer is June to September; winter is October to May.
| Region | Summer, daily | Summer, all-electric | Winter, daily | Winter, all-electric |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5 | 17.0 | 16.8 | 18.4 | 27.0 |
| 6 | 11.4 | 8.7 | 11.0 | 12.6 |
| 8 | 12.8 | 9.9 | 10.3 | 12.3 |
| 9 | 16.9 | 12.5 | 12.0 | 13.9 |
| 10 | 19.3 | 15.9 | 12.1 | 16.4 |
| 13 | 22.2 | 24.2 | 12.2 | 23.0 |
| 14 | 19.2 | 18.5 | 11.9 | 21.1 |
| 15 | 45.0 | 24.0 | 9.7 | 17.4 |
| 16 | 14.7 | 13.5 | 12.4 | 23.2 |
Source: SCE Tiered Rate Plan page, checked September 23, 2026, as SCE lists it. SCE describes regions 13, 14 and 15 as hot, 5, 9 and 10 as moderate and 6, 8 and 16 as cool.
Compare these with the 16.5 kWh statewide average and you can see why many homes spend part of each month above baseline. On SCE's tiered plan, the price as of June 1, 2026 was 30 cents per kWh up to baseline and 40 cents above it. On PG&E's tiered E-1 plan from March 1, 2026, it was 32.561 cents and 40.702 cents. Medical Baseline customers get more: SCE adds 16.5 kWh a day. Our PG&E tier rates guide shows the tier math on a real bill.
What time of day are PG&E rates the lowest?
On time-of-use plans, when you use the kWh matters as much as how many. PG&E's lowest-priced hours depend on the plan you are on:
| Plan | Cheapest hours | Summer off-peak | Summer peak |
|---|---|---|---|
| E-TOU-C | Any time outside 4–9 p.m., every day | 39.940¢ | 52.240¢ (4–9 p.m.) |
| E-TOU-D | Any time outside 5–8 p.m. on non-holiday weekdays; all weekend | 34.212¢ | 47.708¢ (5–8 p.m.) |
| EV2-A | Midnight to 3 p.m., every day | 22.558¢ | 53.809¢ (4–9 p.m.) |
| E-ELEC | Midnight to 3 p.m., every day | 33.358¢ | 55.214¢ (4–9 p.m.) |
Source: PG&E residential rates table, March 1, 2026 to present (Advice Letter 7846-E), checked September 23, 2026. Totals are bundled rates before the E-TOU-C baseline credit; EV2-A and E-ELEC also have a partial-peak price from 3 to 4 p.m. and 9 p.m. to midnight.
For how those plans compare in winter and who qualifies for EV2-A and E-ELEC, see PG&E time-of-use rates and peak hours. LADWP and SMUD use different hours; see the LADWP rate guide for Los Angeles.
How much electricity California uses in a day, statewide
The California Energy Commission counts total system electric generation, in-state plants plus imports, at 278,338 gigawatt-hours in 2024. Over 366 days that is about 760 gigawatt-hours a day. It does not include power from rooftop solar used on site, which the commission estimated at 26,765 gigawatt-hours in 2024. Where that power comes from is covered in California's electricity sources.
Using your kWh per day
Your daily kWh turns into a monthly bill in the average California utility bill guide, and into a system size in how big a solar system a California home needs. For backup, the question is how much of that daily use you need overnight, which is where battery sizing starts.
Frequently asked questions
How many kWh per day does the average California home use?
About 16.5 kWh. EIA reports that California residential customers used an average of 503 kWh a month in 2024, which is about 6,038 kWh a year, or 16.5 kWh a day. The U.S. average was about 28.4 kWh a day.
Is 30 kWh a day a lot for a California home?
It is almost twice the 2024 California average of about 16.5 kWh a day, and it is above most PG&E and SCE baseline allowances, so much of it would be billed at the higher tier price. It is not unusual for a large single-family home: EIA's 2020 survey put Western homes of 3,000 square feet or more at about 36 kWh a day.
What time of day are PG&E rates the lowest?
It depends on the plan. On E-TOU-C, every hour outside 4 to 9 p.m. is off-peak. On E-TOU-D, everything outside 5 to 8 p.m. on non-holiday weekdays is off-peak. On EV2-A and E-ELEC, the lowest price runs from midnight to 3 p.m. every day. From March 1, 2026, EV2-A's off-peak price was 22.558 cents per kWh year-round.
How much electricity does California use per day in total?
The California Energy Commission reports total system electric generation of 278,338 gigawatt-hours in 2024. Spread over the 366 days of 2024, that is about 760 gigawatt-hours a day, not counting rooftop solar used on site.
What is a baseline allowance?
It is the block of electricity each home gets at the lowest residential price, set by the CPUC for your climate area, season and whether your home is all-electric. PG&E and SCE state it as kWh per day and multiply it by the days in your billing period. Use above the allowance costs more on tiered plans, and PG&E's E-TOU-C gives a credit on usage within it.
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