The New $24 Fixed Charge on Your California Electric Bill, Explained

PG&E, SCE and SDG&E all added a new monthly fixed charge of approximately $24 to residential electric bills, phased in starting late 2025 into early 2026. It shows up as its own line item, separate from usage charges. Below: what it is, why it exists, whether you can reduce it, and how it changes the math on solar.

If your bill jumped and you are not sure why, start with what to check on a high California bill.

What Is It?

The fixed charge is a flat monthly fee that appears on your bill regardless of how much electricity you use. Use 50 kWh or 1,500 kWh — you pay the same $24. It's separate from your per-kWh usage charges.

The charge was authorized by the California legislature through AB 205, signed into law in 2022, and implemented by the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) starting in late 2025. You can read the full CPUC decision on the CPUC Rate Reform page.

This restructuring was ordered in CPUC Decision D.24-05-028, issued May 9, 2024. The decision states it "authorizes all investor-owned electric utilities to change the structure of residential customer bills in accordance with Assembly Bill 205, Stats. 2022, ch. 61" — confirming the link to AB 205 (see "Where AB 205 Fits In" below).

Why Does It Exist?

The stated purpose is to make electricity pricing more "equitable." The idea: by shifting some grid maintenance costs from per-kWh charges to a flat fee, the per-kWh rate drops slightly for everyone. In theory, this helps low-usage households pay less overall.

In practice, the per-kWh reduction has been modest — roughly 2 to 5 cents per kWh depending on the utility and rate plan. For households that use a moderate amount of electricity (600+ kWh per month, which is most households with air conditioning), the net effect is a higher total bill.

Critics of the fixed charge argue it penalizes energy conservation — if you invest in efficiency upgrades to reduce your usage, you're still stuck paying the $24 every month. Supporters argue it more fairly distributes the cost of maintaining grid infrastructure.

What Changed on the Per-kWh Side

D.24-05-028 directs that "the revenues from fixed charges will be applied to reduce volumetric rates equally across all time-of-use periods" — the flat charge is meant to replace, not add to, part of what used to be billed per kWh. SDG&E's own page quantifies this for its territory: customers "may pay about 10% less per kWh for the energy you use (roughly 5 cents per kWh on electric delivery)." PG&E's own page confirms the same direction — "the price per kWh for electricity is lowered... so you are paying less for the electricity you use" — without stating a specific cents-per-kWh figure. Whether the fixed charge nets out to more or less on a given bill still depends on how much electricity that account uses.

How Much Is It by Utility?

The CPUC decision that created this structure, D.24-05-028, sets the standard-tier ceiling at exactly $24.15/month, with CARE and FERA both described as "approximately" $6 and $12. PG&E and SDG&E both round their own published figures to about $24 rather than quoting $24.15 directly; the small difference is a billing-cycle-length effect, not a different policy. SCE's Base Services Charge page lists $24.15 a month, $12.08 for FERA customers and qualifying deed-restricted affordable housing, and $6.00 for CARE customers, effective November 2025 (SCE, Base Services Charge, checked September 24, 2026).

Where AB 205 Fits In

Assembly Bill 205 (2022) directed the CPUC to authorize an income-graduated fixed charge on electric bills. The commission adopted the specific structure — the three tiers above — in Decision D.24-05-028. AB 205 is the law that required this; the CPUC decision is what actually set the dollar amounts and the rollout dates. The two reduced tiers above track the state's CARE and FERA programs.

Can You Avoid or Reduce It?

You can't opt out of the fixed charge. It applies to every residential grid-connected customer. However, there are two ways to pay less.

CARE or FERA enrollment. If your household income qualifies, you can reduce the fixed charge to $6 to $12 per month. Check your utility's CARE/FERA eligibility page — many qualifying households haven't applied. Links: PG&E CARE/FERA, SCE CARE/FERA, SDG&E assistance programs. On PG&E, the guide to CARE and FERA discounts shows the daily charge for each tier and the rules that trip people up when they enroll.

Go completely off-grid. Technically, if you disconnect from the utility entirely (no grid connection at all), you wouldn't pay the fixed charge. In practice, going fully off-grid in California requires significant battery storage (typically 40+ kWh), a backup generator, and is prohibitively expensive for most households. This is not a realistic option for the vast majority of homeowners.

How Does the Fixed Charge Affect Solar?

The charge applies whether or not the account has solar, and it isn't offset by production. PG&E states this directly: "Solar customers, even though they are producing clean energy, still use the electric grid, and therefore pay the same Base Services Charge as non-solar customers." SDG&E's solar billing pages describe the same charge as "non-bypassable" for Net Energy Metering accounts and "non-nettable" for Solar Billing Plan accounts — in both cases, not eligible to be offset by generation or export credits. In practice: a solar account that exports more than it imports over a full year still owes the standard, CARE, or FERA charge above, every month, before any other charge applies. For the rest of what stays on a solar account's bill — non-bypassable charges, gas, and the annual true-up — see do you still get a utility bill with solar?.

Will the Fixed Charge Go Up?

Probably. The CPUC has the authority to adjust the fixed charge annually, and utilities have signaled they'd like it higher. Some energy policy analysts expect it to reach $30 to $40 per month within the next few years. There's no cap written into the legislation.

This is worth factoring into any long-term energy planning. If the fixed charge climbs to $40/month ($480/year), that's a meaningful cost — but it also means the per-kWh rates may come down slightly in exchange, since the fixed charge is meant to shift costs from per-kWh to flat fees. How that trade-off shakes out depends on your usage level.

What Should You Actually Do?

First, find the fixed charge on your most recent bill and confirm you're paying the standard amount. Then check whether you qualify for CARE or FERA to reduce it. Beyond that, the fixed charge is largely out of your control — it's a cost of being connected to the grid in California.

The actionable decision for most homeowners is whether to address the other 90% of their bill — the consumption-based charges — through efficiency upgrades, rate plan optimization, or solar. Rate plan optimization starts with the peak window on your own utility's schedule — San Diego customers can check when SDG&E's peak window falls before comparing plans. The fixed charge makes that decision slightly more complex but doesn't fundamentally change the calculus. If your bill is $200+ per month, the consumption portion is still where the real savings opportunity lives.