PG&E Time-of-Use Rates: 2026 Plan Guide

PG&E TOU Rates Effective March 1, 2026

These are PG&E total bundled energy rates in Advice Letter 7846-E, effective March 1, 2026. E-TOU-C applies an 8.140¢/kWh baseline credit to electricity within the customer's baseline allowance; the table shows rates before that credit. E-TOU-D has no baseline credit. Both plans also have a daily Base Services Charge. Verify later changes on PG&E's current electric-rates page.

How E-TOU-C Works

E-TOU-C has one rule that is easy to remember and hard to avoid: 4–9 p.m. is peak time every day, including weekends and holidays. Summer runs June 1 through September 30. Winter covers October 1 through May 31.

The plan also includes a baseline credit. PG&E bases the allowance on climate zone, heating source and season. For rates effective March 1, the credit was 8.140 cents per kWh for usage within that allowance. It reduces both peak and off-peak prices on the qualifying portion of usage.

E-TOU-C may fit when: household consumption stays near the baseline allowance, weekday and weekend evening use is low, or major loads can run before 4 p.m. or after 9 p.m.

It may be a poor fit when: dinner, cooling, laundry, pool equipment or vehicle charging regularly run from 4–9 p.m., especially on weekends.

How E-TOU-D Works

E-TOU-D narrows peak pricing to 5–8 p.m. on non-holiday weekdays. Weekends and designated holidays are off-peak. Every kilowatt-hour receives the same time-based price because this plan has no baseline credit.

E-TOU-D may fit when: the home uses well above its baseline allowance, weekend use is high, or a three-hour weekday peak is easier to avoid than E-TOU-C's five-hour daily window.

It may be a poor fit when: most electricity is already within the baseline allowance or the household cannot reduce its 5–8 p.m. weekday load.

The Base Services Charge Changes the Comparison

Both schedules include a daily Base Services Charge. In Advice Letter 7846-E, the daily rates were 19.713 cents for income tier 1, 39.688 cents for tier 2 and 79.343 cents for tier 3. PG&E summarizes those as roughly $6, $12 and $24 per month, with CARE and FERA customers generally receiving the lower charges. The monthly total changes with the number of billing days.

PG&E says the charge separated service costs that had been included in per-kWh prices; it was paired with lower energy prices. Do not add $24 to an old bill and call that the new total. Compare the full current bill under each schedule. Source: PG&E's Base Services Charge page.

What If You Have an EV, Battery or Heat Pump?

E-TOU-C and E-TOU-D are not the only residential options. PG&E also lists E-ELEC for qualifying electric technologies and EV2-A for a home with an electric vehicle and/or battery storage. EV2-A uses off-peak, partial-peak and peak periods and makes electricity lowest from midnight to 3 p.m. It can work when charging and other flexible loads stay out of 4–9 p.m.

Eligibility and total household load matter more than the lowest advertised off-peak number. Compare the whole home under each available plan using PG&E's EV rate calculator or the rate analysis in My Account.

CCA Customers Need the Joint Rate, Not the Bundled Table

The prices above are total bundled rates. If a community choice aggregator supplies your electricity, the CCA sets the generation charge while PG&E continues delivery, metering, billing, maintenance and outage response. A Power Charge Indifference Adjustment can also appear.

Use the joint rate comparison for your CCA and the same PG&E schedule. Adding a CCA generation rate to PG&E's bundled total would count generation twice.

How to Pick a Plan Without Guessing

1. Download at least 12 months of hourly or interval usage from My Account.
2. Compare how many kWh fall inside E-TOU-C's 4–9 p.m. daily peak and E-TOU-D's 5–8 p.m. non-holiday weekday peak.
3. Check how much usage receives the E-TOU-C baseline credit.
4. Add expected loads such as an EV, heat pump, electric water heater or pool equipment.
5. Run PG&E's personalized rate analysis. Keep the result with the effective date because tariffs change.
6. After switching, compare the next full billing cycles with weather and usage, not dollars alone.

Does Solar or a Battery Change the Best Plan?

It can. Solar production is usually strongest before the evening peak. A battery can store some daytime production for later use. But the result depends on the customer's billing program, system size, import and export pattern, battery controls and the tariff in effect. A solar proposal should model all of those inputs.

Start by diagnosing the existing bill with our PG&E high-bill checklist. Then compare the statewide context in PG&E vs. SCE vs. SDG&E rates. If a provider cannot show the rate schedule used in its savings model, the estimate is not ready to sign.

Primary Sources Used

• PG&E Advice Letter 7846-E, effective March 1, 2026: E-TOU-C and E-TOU-D prices, baseline credit and Base Services Charge.
• PG&E Time-of-Use Rate Plans: plan windows, seasons and customer-fit descriptions.
• PG&E Community Choice Aggregation: CCA and PG&E roles.