California is changing how electricity is billed
New state legislation requires investor-owned electric utilities to restructure residential bills with a Base Services Charge, beginning in October 2025.
What is the Base Services Charge?
The Base Services Charge covers investments in equipment, like transformers and meters, as well as customer service to help ensure that electricity is delivered safely and reliably to your home.
It’s not an additional charge on your bill — these costs were previously included in the price kilowatt-hour (kWh) for electric delivery. Now they will be broken out on their own line on the bill. Because this is a reallocation of costs, SDG&E will not earn more profit from this change.
SDG&E is committed to keeping electricity reliable and sustainable for all. These changes are a significant step towards California’s clean, sustainable energy future.
What is changing?
We are updating how some existing costs appear on your bill. Starting in October 2025, you’ll see a new line item called the Base Services Charge. Most customers will pay approximately $24 per month.* Customers enrolled in low-income programs, including CARE and FERA, and customers in qualifying Deed-Restricted Affordable Housing (DRAH), will pay a discounted charge (see chart below).
Approximate monthly Base Services Charge:
$24
Most customers
$12
Customers enrolled in FERA
& qualifying DRAH customers
(income qualified)
$6
Customers enrolled in CARE
(income qualified)
The Base Services Charge covers some of the fixed costs that were previously included in your electric delivery prices. Moving them out of rates means you may pay about 10% less** per kWh for the energy you use (roughly 5 cents per kWh on electric delivery). Each customer’s usage varies, so lower electricity prices may or may not lead to a lower total bill.
See if you qualify for an income-based discount on your Base Services Charge through SDG&E’s assistance programs at sdge.com/assistance.
*Your Base Services Charge may vary based on the number of days in the billing month. Most customers will pay between $22.22-$26.18, FERA/DRAH customers $11.11-$13.10 and CARE customers $5.53-$6.51 per month.
**Actual price reductions will vary depending on your rate plan, commodity provider, electricity usage, and the rates effective at the time of Base Services Charge implementation.
How does this impact you?
To help you understand Base Services Charge impacts, we have created sample bill impacts across different average household energy use levels: low, medium, and high. Your actual bill impact will vary based on several factors, including your pricing plan, when you use energy and how much energy you use.
What’s staying the same?
- Your pricing plan stays the same, and a portion of your bill is still based on how much electricity you use. Sign into MyEnergyCenter.com to compare pricing plan options. The standard electric generation charges, taxes, fees, and credits on your bill will stay the same.
- Customers enrolled in CARE or FERA will continue to receive monthly discounts.
- Community Choice Aggregators (CCA) customers will still receive electricity from their CCA providers. The Base Services Charge only affects the SDG&E portion of the bill.
- Medical Baseline energy allowances for enrolled customers have not changed.
Why is this happening?
It’s legally mandated for investor-owned California utilities due to Assembly Bill 205 passed by the state legislature.
Increases transparency
Separating fixed costs from usage rates makes bills clearer.
Supports affordability
This structure reduces bills for most low-income households, with continued discounts for CARE and FERA customers.
Lowers the electricity rate
Separating some fixed costs may lower the cost of electricity by about 10% or 5 cents per kWh.
Promotes clean energy
Helps support the state’s clean energy goals by making it more affordable to use electric technologies, such as cars and appliances.
Solar customers
All residential customers, including those with rooftop solar, will transition to the Base Services Charge. Solar customers rely on infrastructure to draw electricity from the grid and send electricity back to the grid throughout the day to balance their usage with intermittent solar production. Additionally, they need grid support to meet energy needs during nighttime or when solar panels are not generating power. If you don't know which plan you're on, find out by checking your bill or logging into My Energy Center.
Net Energy Metering (NEM)
Solar customers on a Net Energy Metering (NEM) plan will continue to receive monthly statements. You can choose to pay the Base Services Charge each month or wait until your annual true-up. Note, the Base Services Charge is not eligible to be offset by applied generation credits. The Base Services Charge will replace any existing basic service fee or monthly service fee currently included in the electric delivery portion of your bill.
Solar Billing Plan (SBP)
For solar customers on a Solar Billing Plan (SBP), the Base Services Charge is a non-nettable charge that can be viewed on your Detailed Solar Bill. Export credits cannot be applied to non-nettable charges, including the Base Services Charge.
Income-qualified customers
See if you qualify for an income-based discount on your Base Services Charge at sdge.com/assistance.
CARE customers
Customers enrolled in CARE will automatically receive a discounted Base Services Charge of approximately $6 per month and most will see a lower electric bill because of this change. In addition to a discounted Base Services Charge, you will continue to receive your monthly CARE discount of 30% or more on the energy you use.
Additional income information is not required at this time, but verification may be requested under CARE program guidelines. SDG&E will notify you if income verification or renewal is required. If you are removed from CARE, including for not renewing, you will automatically be charged the full Base Services Charge amount of approximately $24 per month. For full program details, visit sdge.com/CARE.
FERA customers
Customers enrolled in FERA will automatically receive a discounted Base Services Charge of approximately $12 per month. You will also continue to receive your monthly FERA discount of 18% on the electricity you use.
Additional income information is not required at this time, but verification may be requested under FERA program guidelines. SDG&E will notify you if income verification or renewal is required. If you are removed from FERA, including for not renewing, you will automatically be charged the full Base Services Charge amount of approximately $24 per month. For full program details, visit sdge.com/FERA.
Deed-restricted affordable housing customers
Deed-Restricted Affordable Housing (DRAH) are rental properties on the California Housing Partnership’s (CHP) affordable housing list, requiring residents to earn 80% or less of the area median Income. Based on the CHP list, some customers will automatically see the discounted Base Services Charge. Other customers will need to attest to living in an eligible DRAH property. Those customers who need to attest will be sent a notification from SDG&E. For more information, visit chpc.net.
Overview of charges
Starting in the fall of 2025, electric bills for residential customers in California will be restructured. This billing change moves some of the costs already included in your bill to a new line item called the Base Services Charge.
In June 2022, the California Legislature passed Assembly Bill (AB) 205 mandating that the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) change the way residential customers’ electric bills are structured. The intent of AB 205 is to help make bills more transparent, while making it more affordable to use electric technologies, such as cars and appliances. The change will also provide bill savings for most income-qualified households, like those enrolled in the CARE and FERA programs.
This change becomes effective for SDG&E customers in October 2025. The charge will appear on your bill as “Base Services Charge” in the “Delivery Charges” section of your electronic pdf or paper bill. Note that the Base Services Charge will not be shown on the main page of My Energy Center. For help understanding how to read your bill, click here.
Per the CPUC decision from AB205, customers of PG&E, SCE, and SDG&E all have the same Base Services Charge of approximately $24 per month for general customers, and discounted amounts of $12 and $6 per month for income-qualified customers.
Understanding the Base Services Charge
The Base Services Charge captures some of the fixed costs for customer service, such as the call center, billing, and other costs to update and maintain the electric grid, including transformers and meters which help ensure safe, reliable electric delivery to your home.
The Base Services Charge is not a new fee or tax, but rather a change in how electric bills are structured. Because this is only a reallocation of costs, SDG&E will not earn more profit because of this change. Under the new law (Assembly Bill 205), instead of paying for certain fixed infrastructure costs through variable rates (price per kWh), customers will pay a standard base amount, regardless of their electricity consumption.
All residential electric customers, including homeowners, renters, and solar customers, will have a Base Services Charge on their bill. Income-qualified customers enrolled in monthly bill-discount programs, such as CARE or FERA, and customers in qualifying Deed-Restricted Affordable Housing (DRAH) are eligible for a discounted Base Services Charge.
The exact monthly amount of your Base Services Charge depends on the number of days in your billing cycle and enrollment in income-qualified programs. As such, your Base Services Charge may vary slightly from month-to-month. While the exact amount is calculated daily, you will see it as a monthly charge on your bill.
|
|
Daily Rate* |
28-day billing cycle (minimum) |
33-day billing cycle (maximum) |
Average monthly Base Services Charge |
|
Most customers |
.793 |
$22.22 |
$26.18 |
~$24 |
|
FERA/DRAH customers |
.396 |
$11.11 |
$13.10 |
~$12 |
|
CARE customers |
.197 |
$5.52 |
$6.51 |
~$6 |
*To account for Leap Year, the daily rate is calculated by dividing 12months by 365.25 days.
Prior to the implementation of the Base Services Charge, all costs of customer service and maintaining the electric grid had been included in the variable energy delivery rate or price per kWh. With the restructuring, some of the costs for things like call center, billing, transformers, meters and other equipment, which keep your home connected to the electric grid, will be separated from the variable energy delivery charges and covered by the Base Services Charge.
The California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) set the statewide Base Services Charge and will determine whether to make any changes to the amount or structure of the charge. The CPUC is currently exploring options for future iterations of the Base Services Charge. For more information on the CPUC proceeding addressing the Base Services Charge, please see the CPUC’s website. You may also provide public comment on this proceeding here.
Yes, the variable electric delivery charges can change throughout the year, but with the Base Services Charge, the cost per kWh will be approximately 10%* (roughly 5 cents/kWh) less than it would be without the Base Services Charge.
*Estimated as of February 1, 2025. The exact amount of the reduction to variable electric delivery charges may vary by residential rate schedule, tier and time period.
One of the goals of the AB205 legislation is to help reduce bills for customers on income-qualified programs. Medical Baseline is not an income-qualified program and is therefore not eligible for a discounted Base Services Charge. Visit sdge.com/assistance for more information on available assistance programs.
Master metered customers will see a Base Services Charge per unit. Customers enrolled in FERA and CARE will automatically receive a discounted Base Services Charge of approximately $12 and $6, respectively. Landlords or property managers are responsible for applying the appropriate Base Services Charge to each sub-metered bill. The Base Services Charge will be listed for the applicable program enrollments based on unit totals.
EV-TOU-5 and TOU-ELEC
For customers on the EV-TOU-5 or TOU-ELEC rates, the Base Services Charge will automatically replace the fixed monthly service fee. The Base Services Charge is not an additional charge.
EV-TOU-2
For customers on the EV-TOU-2, the Base Services Charge will apply to your account.
EV-TOU
For customers on the EV-TOU, the Base Services Charge will not be applied to the stand-alone EV charging meter required to be on this plan.
How bills will change
The Base Services Charge may cause your bill to increase or decrease compared to your bill without the Base Services Charge, depending on your specific level of usage and where you live. Generally, the Base Services Charge will offset the volumetric charge per kWh, resulting in a lower electricity price ($/kWh) than without the Base Services Charge. SDG&E does not expect the Base Services Charge to significantly impact most customers' bills. See how the Base Services Charge may affect your monthly bill in the illustrative bill graphics above.
This change will not impact participation in your existing rate plan or certain programs, like Medical Baseline Allowance, California Alternate Rates for Energy (CARE), or Family Electric Rate Assistance (FERA). For more information on available assistance programs, please visit sdge.com/assistance.
The Base Services Charge is not based on your energy use and cannot be lowered by reducing your energy consumption. However, other than the Base Services Charge, your bill is still based on how much electricity you use. Additionally, if you are on a Time-of-Use (TOU) pricing plan (and most residential customers are), you can save money on your bill by shifting your energy use outside of 4 p.m. to 9 p.m.
Customers may not opt out of paying the Base Services Charge. All residential homes are connected to the grid and require the necessary infrastructure to receive electric service. Income-qualified customers may be eligible for a discount on both their volumetric kWh charges and their Base Services Charge through the California Alternate Rates for Energy (CARE) and Family Electric Rate Assistance (FERA) programs. Visit sdge.com/assistance for eligibility requirements.
You can visit sdge.com/assistance to learn about ways to lower your energy usage or see if you qualify for income-based bill discount programs such as CARE or FERA. You can also see if you qualify for free energy-efficient appliances through our Energy Saving Assistance (ESA) program.
Yes, all residential electric customers, including those with solar, are required to pay the Base Services Charge. Solar customers are not excluded from paying the Base Services Charge, as their homes are still connected to the grid and require the infrastructure, meters, and other equipment needed to maintain it.
Other charges
These are the charges associated with operating and maintaining the equipment to deliver the electricity you use to your home, including costs for customer care and billing services. These costs are currently included in the per kilowatt-hour (kWh) volumetric charge for energy used. After the Base Services Charge is implemented, some of these costs will be shifted from the volumetric charges to the Base Services Charge and as a result, you will pay a lower cost per kWh.
Generation charges represent the cost of producing or purchasing electricity for your home or business. These charges may be calculated by your Community Choice Aggregator (CCA), such as Clean Energy Alliance (CEA) or San Diego Community Power (SDCP) and included on your SDG&E bill.
Yes, delivery and generation charges are currently separated. The mandated restructuring will further separate the Base Services Charge from delivery and generation charges. Whether you’re a high-use or low-use energy consumer, your Base Services Charge will remain consistent, while the charges for energy generation and delivery will still vary based on your usage.
For customers on the EV-TOU-5 or TOU-ELEC rates, the Base Services Charge will automatically replace the fixed monthly service fee. The Base Services Charge is not an additional charge.
The Base Services Charge will replace minimum bills, so once it’s in place, the minimum bill amount will no longer apply.
Additional information
As we use more electric devices in our homes for things like heating and cooling, entertainment, gaming, communication, cooking, and transportation (EVs), electricity use will likely increase. The Base Services Charge will help make these technologies more affordable to use. This change is a significant step towards a cleaner, more sustainable energy future for California.
No. California utilities, like SDG&E, will not earn more profit from the Base Services Charge. They will continue to receive the same amount of compensation as they currently do for the investment they make in operating and maintaining the electric grid.
Residential customers will pay less for each kilowatt-hour (kWh) of electricity that they use than they would without the Base Services Charge. This rate reduction will lower the cost of using electricity and help accelerate the state’s transition to 100% clean energy. Cheaper electricity will help facilitate the shift away from natural gas appliances to electric appliances. To learn more about electrification visit sdge.com/electrification.
Yes. The Base Services Charge is separate from electricity usage and represents a portion of the costs to operate and maintain the electric grid for a customer in SDG&E’s service area.
No. The California Climate Credit is not affected by the Base Services Charge.
Yes. In addition to a discounted Base Services Charge, you will continue to receive your monthly CARE or FERA discount on the electricity you use.
Additional income information is not required at this time, but verification may be requested under CARE guidelines. SDG&E will notify you if income verification or renewal is required. If you are removed from CARE or FERA, including for not renewing, you will automatically be charged the full Base Services Charge amount of approximately $24 per month. For full program details, visit sdge.com/assistance.
Once approved for CARE or FERA, you’ll receive your discount for two years. After two years, you’ll have to renew your application to make sure you still qualify. For families on a fixed income, renewal is every four years. SDG&E will send an email and/or a letter when you are required to renew. If you fail to respond or are no longer qualified, you will be automatically charged the full Base Services Charge amount of approximately $24 per month.
If you are removed from CARE or FERA or no longer qualify, you will be charged the full Base Services Charge amount of approximately $24 per month. For full program details, visit sdge.com/assistance.
No, your PIPP bill cap amount will stay the same and will include the discounted CARE Base Services Charge amount.
Yes, all residential customers, including those with solar, are required to pay a Base Services Charge.
Net Energy Metering (NEM) customers: No, the Base Services Charge is a non-bypassable charge not eligible to be offset by generation credits.
Solar Billing Plan (SBP) customers: No, the Base Services Charge is a non-nettable charge that is not eligible to be offset by export credits.
The Base Services Charge is a monthly charge.
Net Energy Metering (NEM) customers will continue to receive a monthly statement and can choose to pay the Base Services Charge each month or wait until their annual true-up. However, if you are a NEM customer who has officially chosen to pay monthly, you must pay the Base Services Charge each month.
Solar Billing Plan (SBP) customers will continue to pay their solar bill including the Base Services Charge each month.
Home electrification is the process of switching from home appliances powered by natural gas or other fossil fuels to appliances powered by electricity. For more information, visit sdge.com/electrification.
Net Energy Metering (NEM) customers: The Base Services Charge amount will be in the “Non-Bypassable Charges” section of the NEM bill.
Solar Billing Plan (SBP) customers: The Base Services Charge can be found in the “Non-Nettable Charges” section of your detailed solar bill.
- Community Choice Aggregator (CCA) Customers: After the account has been trued up, if you have excess generation payment, it will not be applied to the Base Services Charge, as the Base Services Charge is part of the delivery charges. Application of excess generation payments may vary by CCA. If you have questions about how excess generation payments are applied, please contact your CCA.
- Non-CCA Solar Customers: After the account has been trued up, if you have an excess generation payment, it will be applied to the total account balance - including any Base Services Charges.