SCE Rate Increases, 2024 to 2026: The History, a Rate Chart and What Comes Next

SCE's last big rate increase took effect October 1, 2025, when its residential average rate rose about 13.1% to 35.3 cents per kWh as the CPUC's 2025 rate case decision went into rates. Two small cuts in 2026 brought it to 34.4 cents on June 1, 2026. That is still about 10% above June 2025 and roughly double 2016.

Every average on this page is the CPUC Public Advocates Office's residential average rate: all SCE residential revenue divided by residential kWh, excluding the California Climate Credit. It is the same basis our rate tracker for PG&E, SCE, SDG&E and SMUD uses, so the two pages agree. The price on your own bill depends on your plan and when you use power.

SCE rate chart, 2024 to 2026

The chart plots SCE's residential average rate at each point the Public Advocates Office reported it. The bars start at zero, so the October 2025 step looks as large as it really is: about four cents per kWh in one day.

Every SCE rate change since mid-2024

From 2024 through 2026, SCE changed rates on January 1, March 1, June 1 or October 1. Each change is an advice letter that puts a CPUC decision into prices. The table lists each one the Public Advocates Office reported, with the change in the residential average rate and the main reason.

Why SCE rates jumped in October 2025

Utilities in California cannot raise base rates on their own. Every four years the CPUC sets how much SCE may spend running and rebuilding its system in a general rate case. SCE's 2025 case (application A.23-05-010) was decided in Decision 25-09-030, late in the year it was meant to cover. SCE's October 1, 2025 advice letter added $1.18 billion a year in authorized base revenue and began collecting $902 million, spread over 24 months, that the decision allowed for January through September 2025. In total, the Public Advocates Office counted a $1.69 billion increase from SCE's June 1, 2025 revenue requirement.

That is why the 2025 increase landed all at once: revenue approved for the whole year, including months already past, arrived in a single step. The same filing set up SCE's income-graduated Base Services Charge, which SCE says appeared on bills in November 2025; the office notes it had no effect on the class average. For one community's view of the same step, see what the October 2025 increase meant for Altadena.

SCE electricity bill changes since November 2025

November 2025: the Base Services Charge. SCE replaced its old Basic Charge with a flat Base Services Charge and cut the price of each kWh by about 10%, part of the bill restructuring Assembly Bill 205 required. SCE lists the charge at $0.79 a day on its time-of-use and tiered plans, about $24 a month for most homes, $12 for FERA customers and $6 for CARE customers. Low-use homes can see higher bills; high-use homes can see lower ones.

SCE's own questions-and-answers page on the charge spells out what else moved on the bill. The charge appears as “Base Services Charge” under Delivery Charges, and the exact amount depends on the days in your billing cycle: $24.15 a month for most customers, $12.08 for FERA customers and qualifying deed-restricted affordable housing, and $6.00 for CARE customers. The old minimum charge no longer applies; a month with zero usage now bills the Base Services Charge alone. The Public Purpose Programs charge, which used to be billed per kWh, is now folded into the flat charge. You cannot lower it by using less or opt out of it, it still applies during outages, and community choice customers pay it too. Customers on the multifamily Schedule DM are exempt and keep the Basic Charge.

Solar customers pay the Base Services Charge every month under both NEM and the Solar Billing Plan, and generation credits cannot offset it. SCE also notes a side effect for NEM 1.0 and 2.0 customers: because their monthly credit is valued at the current per-kWh price, the roughly 10% lower price means a smaller credit for the same exported energy. How that plays out at true-up is in the SCE annual settlement bill guide.

The Climate Credit moved. The CPUC says the 2026 electric California Climate Credit is paid in high-bill months; for SCE customers that is $36.00 on the August bill and $36.00 on the September bill. SCE says the Base Services Charge did not change the Climate Credit itself.

January 1, 2026: about −2.3%. The rate case decision set SCE's base revenue at $10.187 billion, and SCE's 2026 fuel and purchased-power revenue requirement was set at about $4.7 billion. Total revenue still rose $444.2 million, but the residential average fell to 34.5 cents.

June 1, 2026: about −0.1%. SCE's wildfire self-insurance budget rose to $650 million, up $380.7 million, while its 2026 energy-efficiency budget was cut by $240.3 million and a 2023 fuel-cost review returned $73.4 million. The net result was a residential average of 34.4 cents.

For the prices on individual plans, see SCE's time-of-use plans and peak hours and the full list of SCE residential rate schedules. SCE's tiered plan listed Tier 1 at 30 cents and Tier 2 at 40 cents per kWh as of June 1, 2026.

SCE rate increase history over the longer run

Short-term cuts hide the long trend. The Public Advocates Office puts SCE's residential average up 4% over the three years to June 2026, 56% since January 2021 and 101% since January 2016. SCE's ten-year rise is the largest of California's three big investor-owned utilities; PG&E rose 69% and SDG&E 97% over the same span. The office names wildfire mitigation and liability, transmission and distribution spending, and rooftop solar incentives as the main statewide drivers, citing the CPUC's 2025 SB 695 report.

Wildfire costs are a large piece for SCE. The office counts $2.69 billion of SCE's 2026 revenue requirement as wildfire-related, about 14% of the total, up from 9% in January 2023.

Who approves SCE rate increases?

The California Public Utilities Commission. In a general rate case, the CPUC first decides the total revenue a utility may collect, then how to split it among residential, business and other customers. Consumer advocates, cities and other parties can challenge the utility's forecasts, and the CPUC holds public participation hearings in the service area. Separate proceedings handle fuel and power costs, wildfire costs and one-time balances, which is why SCE rates move several times a year. PG&E and SDG&E rate increases go through the same process.

Will SCE rates go up again?

The Public Advocates Office's July 2026 report projects SCE's residential average at about 33.5 cents by December 31, 2026. It warns that the forecast includes only requests already filed and will likely rise as SCE files more. The dated rate tracker is updated when each new Public Advocates Office report comes out.

What an SCE customer can do about it

Start with the plan. SCE's rate comparison in My Account prices your last year of usage on each plan you qualify for. If your income is under the CPUC's limits, CARE takes 30% to 35% off the electric bill and FERA takes 18%, and both lower the Base Services Charge. For a bill that already looks wrong, work through why an Edison bill runs high.

If you are weighing solar against these rates, the useful question is how SCE credits exports under the net billing tariff, not the average rate alone. Our net billing vs. net metering explainer and battery payback under NEM 3.0 cover that next step.