LADWP electric rates, bills and recent increases

What LADWP homes pay per kWh

The Los Angeles Department of Water and Power is a city department, owned by the City of Los Angeles, and supplies both the electricity and its delivery to 1.4 million homes, 10.0% of California's residential customers in 2025. Its own description calls it the largest municipal water and power utility in the nation. EIA counts all 1,415,602¹ of its residential customers as full-service, buying both parts from LADWP, so unlike at PG&E or SCE one average covers every home on its wires.

That average depends on the period:

• Calendar 2025 (EIA-861, every utility): 26.48¢ per kWh¹.
• Last 12 months, September 2025 to August 2026 (EIA-861M monthly sample, 2026 months preliminary): 27.88¢ per kWh.
• August 2026³ alone: 30.02¢ per kWh, +7.6%² on the same month a year earlier.

Each figure is average revenue per kWh: what LADWP billed its residential customers, divided by the kWh they used. It blends tiers, seasons and the monthly charges, so it will not match a line on LADWP's rate schedule, and a small user pays more per kWh than a large one.

Among the 25 California utilities with 10,000 or more residential customers, LADWP's 2025 average ranked 7th highest, 15.5% below the California average. Measured against the rest of the country it is high: 13th highest of 177 large US utilities, and 82.7% above the national average for public power¹.

Rising while PG&E and SCE fell

From 2024 to 2025, LADWP's residential average rose from 23.84¢ per kWh⁴ to 26.48¢ per kWh (+11.1%). Over the same years PG&E's bundled average changed −5.3%, Southern California Edison's −2.9% and SDG&E's +4.9%, and California's average across all providers −1.9%⁵. Other public utilities in the south of the state moved like LADWP: Anaheim Public Utilities +13.2%, Riverside Public Utilities +8.6%¹.

LADWPCalifornia average, all providers

Source: EIA-861M monthly sales and revenue by utility; EIA, Electric Power Monthly / EIA-861M sales and revenue by state. Residential revenue divided by kWh in each month, as reported to EIA's monthly survey (EIA-861M; months since January 2026 preliminary).

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Month	LADWP (¢/kWh)	kWh per customer	Bill per customer
January 2025	24.42¢	476	$116.27
February 2025	24.98¢	473	$118.06
March 2025	25.01¢	411	$102.84
April 2025	25.29¢	393	$99.31
May 2025	25.39¢	372	$94.36
June 2025	25.87¢	425	$109.83
July 2025	26.55¢	474	$125.97
August 2025	27.89¢	529	$147.49
September 2025	28.04¢	599	$167.93
October 2025	28.11¢	582	$163.70
November 2025	27.33¢	457	$124.80
December 2025	27.36¢	437	$119.62
January 2026	27.33¢	451	$123.20
February 2026	27.47¢	434	$119.21
March 2026	27.45¢	408	$112.01
April 2026	27.37¢	412	$112.66
May 2026	27.16¢	376	$102.12
June 2026	27.38¢	406	$111.13
July 2026	28.37¢	482	$136.67
August 2026	30.02¢	608	$182.63

The monthly survey shows the increase continuing into 2026. The 12-month average for September 2025 to August 2026, 27.88¢ per kWh, sits above the calendar-2025 figure, and the August 2026 reading was +7.6%² on a year earlier, while California's statewide average for that month was −3.8%³ (both preliminary). The two are not like for like: the California Public Utilities Commission moved the Climate Credit for PG&E, SCE and SDG&E customers to August and September, and that decision does not cover LADWP's customers.

The CPUC does not set LADWP's prices. As the Legislative Analyst's Office explains, publicly owned utilities are government agencies whose rates are set locally rather than by the state. For LADWP, a five-member Board of Water and Power Commissioners, appointed by the Mayor and confirmed by the City Council, establishes the department's policy. LADWP rate changes are therefore decided in Los Angeles, not in CPUC proceedings.

A small bill on very little electricity

LADWP homes used 469 kWh a month on average in 2025, against 874 kWh for the average US home and 494 kWh across California, the lowest use per home among the states in 2025. That is why the average bill, $124.20¹, was below the US average of $150.68⁶ even though each kWh cost far more than the US residential average of 17.23¢ per kWh⁵ that year.

The bill still rose. Use per home fell from 485 kWh to 469 kWh a month between 2024 and 2025, but the higher price outweighed it, and the average bill went from $115.63⁴ to $124.20 (+7.4%¹). Over the last 12 months (September 2025 to August 2026) it averaged $131.31 for 471 kWh².

Price and bill rank in different orders across California. Over the same 12 months, SMUD's homes paid an average bill of $130.57, nearly the same as LADWP's, at a much lower price (19.58¢ per kWh) on more use (667 kWh). Bills averaged $163.92 at SCE, $164.41 at PG&E and $182.56² at SDG&E.

LADWP (CA)$124.20

SMUD (CA)$125.42

Southern California Edison (CA)$149.07

SDG&E (CA)$167.87

PG&E (CA)$173.95

Source: EIA-861 annual electric power industry report, 2025 final. EIA-861 2025 final. Average revenue per kWh is all charges divided by kWh; it is not a tariff rate.

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Utility	average monthly residential bill
LADWP (CA)	$124.20
SMUD (CA)	$125.42
Southern California Edison (CA)	$149.07
SDG&E (CA)	$167.87
PG&E (CA)	$173.95

A modest summer peak

LADWP's monthly data show a smaller seasonal swing than most large California utilities. May 2026 was the low month of the 12 months to August 2026 (376 kWh per home, $102.12 on average) and August 2026 the high one (608 kWh, $182.63). In their own peak months, SCE's homes averaged 1,159 kWh and SMUD's 918 kWh².

599Sep

582Oct

457Nov

437Dec

451Jan

434Feb

408Mar

412Apr

376May

406Jun

482Jul

608Aug

Source: EIA-861M monthly sales and revenue by utility. kWh per residential customer in each month (EIA-861M; months since January 2026 preliminary). The table adds the average bill and price for the month.

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Month	kWh per customer	Bill per customer	¢/kWh
September 2025	599	$167.93	28.04¢
October 2025	582	$163.70	28.11¢
November 2025	457	$124.80	27.33¢
December 2025	437	$119.62	27.36¢
January 2026	451	$123.20	27.33¢
February 2026	434	$119.21	27.47¢
March 2026	408	$112.01	27.45¢
April 2026	412	$112.66	27.37¢
May 2026	376	$102.12	27.16¢
June 2026	406	$111.13	27.38¢
July 2026	482	$136.67	28.37¢
August 2026	608	$182.63	30.02¢

Next to its neighbours

The closest comparisons are Southern California Edison, which also reports customers in Los Angeles County, and the region's smaller city utilities. In 2025, bundled residential customers paid 31.48¢ per kWh at SCE, and residential customers 19.37¢ per kWh at Anaheim Public Utilities and 21.94¢ per kWh at Riverside Public Utilities. Statewide, public power averaged 22.74¢ per kWh and investor-owned utilities 33.91¢ per kWh¹ (bundled customers). LADWP sits between the two groups.

Anaheim Public Utilities (CA)19.37¢

Riverside Public Utilities (CA)21.94¢

LADWP (CA)26.48¢

Southern California Edison (CA)31.48¢

PG&E (CA)37.52¢

SDG&E (CA)45.77¢

Source: EIA-861 annual electric power industry report, 2025 final. EIA-861 2025 final. Average revenue per kWh is all charges divided by kWh; it is not a tariff rate.

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Utility	average residential price (bundled customers)
Anaheim Public Utilities (CA)	19.37¢
Riverside Public Utilities (CA)	21.94¢
LADWP (CA)	26.48¢
Southern California Edison (CA)	31.48¢
PG&E (CA)	37.52¢
SDG&E (CA)	45.77¢

EIA's service-territory records place LADWP in two counties, Los Angeles and Inyo, and in both at least one other utility also reports customers. A ZIP code or neighbourhood name does not settle which utility serves a home; LADWP's and SCE's own maps decide by address.

LADWP onlyLADWP and other utilitiesOther utilities

Source: EIA-861 2025, service territory; Census Bureau, Cartographic boundary file, counties. EIA-861 2025 service territory: 2 counties. Counts whole counties even where the utility serves only part of one; check the utility's own service-area map for an address.

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County	Other utilities reporting service
Inyo County	Southern California Edison, Valley Electric Association
Los Angeles County	Southern California Edison, City of Glendale, City of Pasadena, City of Burbank Water and Power, City of Azusa, City of Vernon

Meters, time-of-use and rooftop solar

LADWP stands apart from the other large California utilities in metering. In EIA's 2025 count it reported 0.0% of its residential meters as advanced (AMI) meters, against 99.7% at SCE, 99.9% at SMUD and 87.8% across California. Time-varying pricing is also rare: 16,107 residential customers, 1.1% of the total, were enrolled in time-of-use, compared with 97.0% at SMUD and 35.9%⁹ statewide. LADWP's rate schedules list the time-of-use option and its hours; the time-of-use guide explains how such plans change a bill.

Rooftop solar is widespread all the same. LADWP reported 95,898 net-metered residential installations with 603.1 megawatts of capacity, 67.7 per 1,000 residential customers, against 156.0⁹ across California. Electricity the panels produce and use on site does not appear in EIA's kWh per home, which counts only what LADWP sells.

Outages: few routine interruptions, a heavy major-event total

LADWP customers averaged 408 minutes without power in 2025 including major event days, more than the California average of 345 minutes. Excluding those days, which IEEE 1366 defines statistically as days with unusually high outage totals, the figure drops to 89 minutes, below California's 135 minutes. Customers saw 0.78 interruptions on average across all events, fewer than the state's 1.27¹⁰. Most of the year's outage time therefore came on major event days.

Business customers

Commercial customers paid LADWP 25.00¢ per kWh on average in 2025, slightly less than homes, and industrial customers 22.73¢ per kWh; across all 1,516,453 accounts the average was 25.46¢ per kWh¹. The LAO report notes that LADWP runs a discount program for low-income customers; federal LIHEAP aid to California totalled $242.1 million¹¹ in fiscal year 2026. For the statewide picture, see electricity in California.