PG&E Tier Rates in 2026: What Tier 1 and Tier 2 Cost and How the Tiers Work
PG&E's tiered plan, E-1, charges 32.561 cents per kWh for Tier 1 and 40.702 cents for Tier 2, effective March 1, 2026. Tier 1 covers usage up to your baseline allowance; Tier 2 is everything above it and costs about 25% more. The plan also adds a daily Base Services Charge, about $24 a month for most homes.
Those are PG&E's own figures from its residential rates table for March 1, 2026 onward, Advice Letter 7846-E, checked September 23, 2026. For how PG&E's average rate compares with SCE and SDG&E, see the rate tracker for California's major utilities.
PG&E E-1 tiered plan, from March 1, 2026
How PG&E's tiers work
Every PG&E home gets a baseline allowance: a daily amount of electricity set for its baseline territory, the season and whether the home is all-electric. PG&E's bill glossary says the CPUC bases Tier 1 prices on the average energy used by customers in each territory. On each bill, PG&E multiplies your daily allowance by the number of days in the billing period. Everything up to that total is Tier 1. Everything above it is Tier 2.
Tier 1 vs. Tier 2 is therefore not about the time of day. It is about how far past your own allowance you go in each billing period, and the count starts over on the next bill. A home that stays close to baseline pays mostly Tier 1 prices; a home with an EV, a pool pump or all-day air conditioning can spend most of the bill in Tier 2.
| Territory | Summer (Jun–Sep) | Winter (Oct–May) |
|---|---|---|
| P | 13.5 | 11.0 |
| Q | 9.8 | 11.0 |
| R | 17.7 | 10.4 |
| S | 15.0 | 10.2 |
| T | 6.5 | 7.5 |
| V | 7.1 | 8.1 |
| W | 19.2 | 9.8 |
| X | 9.8 | 9.7 |
| Y | 10.5 | 11.1 |
| Z | 5.9 | 7.8 |
Source: PG&E Residential Baseline Territories and Quantities, individually metered homes, effective June 1, 2022 to present, checked September 23, 2026. All-electric homes get larger allowances, especially in winter; the full table is in our kWh-per-day guide.
A sample tiered bill
Take a basic-electric home in territory X that uses 400 kWh on a 30-day winter bill in 2026. Its allowance is 9.7 kWh a day, or 291 kWh. Those 291 kWh are Tier 1 at 32.561 cents, about $94.75. The other 109 kWh are Tier 2 at 40.702 cents, about $44.37. Thirty days of the standard Base Services Charge add about $23.80. The total is roughly $162.92 before taxes and any city fees. The same home on the CARE discount would pay 35% less on the usage charges and the lowest Base Services Charge tier.
That is our arithmetic from PG&E's published rates, not a PG&E bill estimate. Your territory, season and usage change every line. If your real bill is far above this kind of math, the causes are in why a PG&E bill runs high.
Current PG&E tier rates vs. earlier years
PG&E publishes every past rate table, so the E-1 tier prices can be traced change by change. The March 1, 2026 drop is partly an accounting shift: PG&E moved some costs out of the per-kWh price and into the new Base Services Charge on the same date. Before that, E-1 had a daily delivery minimum bill instead of a fixed charge.
| Effective | Tier 1 | Tier 2 | Fixed daily charge |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jan 1, 2023 | 32.549¢ | 40.643¢ | Minimum bill only |
| Mar 1, 2023 | 34.050¢ | 42.516¢ | Minimum bill only |
| Jun 1, 2023 | 33.376¢ | 41.697¢ | Minimum bill only |
| Jul 1, 2023 | 35.271¢ | 43.999¢ | Minimum bill only |
| Sep 1, 2023 | 35.841¢ | 44.692¢ | Minimum bill only |
| Jan 1, 2024 | 42.009¢ | 52.566¢ | Minimum bill only |
| Mar 1, 2024 | 42.101¢ | 52.708¢ | Minimum bill only |
| Apr 1, 2024 | 42.676¢ | 53.406¢ | Minimum bill only |
| Jul 1, 2024 | 38.828¢ | 48.617¢ | Minimum bill only |
| Sep 1, 2024 | 39.033¢ | 48.870¢ | Minimum bill only |
| Oct 1, 2024 | 40.206¢ | 50.323¢ | Minimum bill only |
| Jan 1, 2025 | 40.122¢ | 50.257¢ | Minimum bill only |
| Mar 1, 2025 | 40.730¢ | 51.031¢ | Minimum bill only |
| Sep 1, 2025 | 39.834¢ | 49.918¢ | Minimum bill only |
| Jan 1, 2026 | 37.839¢ | 47.405¢ | Minimum bill only |
| Mar 1, 2026 | 32.561¢ | 40.702¢ | Base Services Charge, $0.79343/day (standard) |
Source: PG&E residential rate tables for each period, from PG&E's electric rates archive, checked September 23, 2026. Prices exclude the California Climate Credit and taxes.
The peak was April 2024, when Tier 1 reached 42.676 cents. The CPUC Public Advocates Office ties several of PG&E's later decreases to wildfire-cost recovery programs finishing their collection periods, and the January 2026 cut to a lower generation cost forecast. For the full story of each change, see whether PG&E rates went up, year by year.
Tiers on time-of-use plans: the baseline credit
PG&E's time-of-use plans do not have Tier 1 and Tier 2 prices, but one of them keeps the idea. E-TOU-C gives a baseline credit of 8.140 cents per kWh on usage within your allowance, taken off its peak and off-peak prices. E-TOU-D, EV2-A and E-ELEC have no baseline credit. So a household that lives near baseline may do better on E-1 or E-TOU-C, while a household far above it may do better on a plan without tiers. Compare them in our PG&E time-of-use plan guide, then check the result with PG&E's rate comparison in My Account. For the full list, including the solar and EV schedules, see every PG&E residential rate schedule.
Master-metered buildings and CCA customers
Apartment buildings on one PG&E master meter are on Schedule EM, not E-1. From March 1, 2026, EM charged 37.174 cents for Tier 1 and 46.572 cents for Tier 2, with a delivery minimum bill instead of the Base Services Charge. Community choice customers pay PG&E for delivery and their CCA for generation, so the bundled prices here are not their total; see what the third-party electric line on a PG&E bill means.
What to do with your tier numbers
If most of your kWh land in Tier 2 every month, you are paying about 25% more for that energy than a home near baseline. Lowering usage, moving to a time-of-use plan or adding solar all attack Tier 2 first, because it is the most expensive energy on the bill. Before comparing a solar quote, read how NEM 3.0 credits exported power and check the apartment-size PG&E bill examples if you rent.
Frequently asked questions
What are the current PG&E tier rates?
From March 1, 2026, PG&E's tiered residential plan, E-1, charges 32.561 cents per kWh for Tier 1 and 40.702 cents per kWh for Tier 2. Those are total bundled prices for customers who buy both generation and delivery from PG&E. The plan also carries a daily Base Services Charge of about 79 cents for most customers.
What is the difference between PG&E Tier 1 and Tier 2?
Tier 1 is usage up to 100% of your baseline allowance, the amount PG&E bills at its lowest residential price. Tier 2 is everything above it. Since March 1, 2026, Tier 2 costs 8.141 cents more per kWh than Tier 1, about 25% more.
How do I know which tier I am in?
Your bill lists your baseline territory and allowance. Multiply the daily allowance for your territory and season by the days in the billing period; kWh up to that total is Tier 1 and the rest is Tier 2. The count resets every billing period.
Does PG&E still have a Tier 3 or high-usage charge?
Not on E-1. PG&E's December 2022 rate table priced usage over 400% of baseline at 49.335 cents per kWh. From January 1, 2023, usage over 400% has been billed at the same price as the rest of Tier 2.
Are PG&E tier rates the same for CCA customers?
No. The E-1 prices on this page are bundled rates. If a community choice aggregator supplies your power, PG&E bills delivery and the CCA sets generation, so the total differs. Use the joint rate comparison for your CCA instead of adding the two together.
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