Riverside's Electricity Provider Is Riverside Public Utilities: Rates and Bills

Who provides electricity in Riverside

Riverside Public Utilities is a city-owned utility, so its rates are set by the City rather than by the CPUC, and there is no community choice provider layered on top of it. On the Energy Commission's utility map, RPU's territory covers about 99.5% of the city's land area and SCE the rest, so a small number of addresses at the edges are SCE customers. The name on your bill settles it.

For SCE addresses, the SCE bill guides on this site apply. Everything below is RPU's own schedule.

What RPU charges a home in 2026

RPU's Schedule D, Domestic Service, sets rates for each year from 2024 through 2028. For 2026 the flat charges are a $14.93 customer charge; a reliability charge of $10, $20, $40 or $60 a month depending on whether the home's service is up to 100 amps, 101 to 200, 201 to 400 or over 400; and a network access charge of $4.60, $10.38 or $19.64 a month depending on whether the home averages up to 12 kWh a day, 12 to 25, or more than 25.

Energy is then priced in three tiers: 13.64 cents per kWh for the first tier, 21.34 cents for the second and 24.62 cents above that. In the winter season the tiers break at 350 and 750 kWh a month; in summer, June 1 through September 30, they break at 750 and 1,500. The schedule already lists higher energy prices for 2027 and 2028.

Solar on an RPU account

New solar customers join RPU's Self-Generation Program. A system may be built up to 150% of the home's historic annual use, residential customers go on the Domestic Time of Use rate, and exported energy earns a bill credit at RPU's Avoided Cost of Energy rate: $0.0678 per kWh for July 1, 2026 through June 30, 2027, adjusted by time-of-delivery factors where they apply. Existing net metering agreements are not affected; RPU says more than 4,700 homes and businesses installed solar under that earlier program.

Because the export credit is well below RPU's retail energy tiers, the value of solar on an RPU account comes mostly from power the home uses as it is produced. Ask any bidder to model RPU's time-of-use rate and avoided-cost credit, not SCE's Solar Billing Plan.

Who is the electricity provider in Riverside, California?

Riverside Public Utilities, the City of Riverside's own utility, for about 99.5% of the city's area on the Energy Commission's map. A few addresses at the edges are served by SCE; check the name on your bill.

What are Riverside Public Utilities electric rates?

For 2026, RPU's residential Schedule D has a $14.93 customer charge, a reliability charge of $10 to $60 by panel size, a network access charge of $4.60 to $19.64 by daily use, and energy tiers of 13.64, 21.34 and 24.62 cents per kWh. Tier breaks are 350 and 750 kWh a month in winter and 750 and 1,500 in summer.

What is the average electric bill in Riverside?

RPU does not publish one average, and its bill depends on panel size and daily use as well as kWh. Your last twelve bills are the figure to use; the schedule above shows how each charge is set.

What does RPU pay for solar exports?

Under its Self-Generation Program, RPU credits exported energy at its Avoided Cost of Energy rate, $0.0678 per kWh for July 1, 2026 through June 30, 2027, adjusted by time-of-delivery factors where they apply.