What happens to a kWh you export in San Diego
- Midday
Your panels overproduce while the sun is high. Under NEM 3.0, exports in these hours are credited at avoided cost values that can approach zero, because the grid is flooded with solar.
- 4 to 9 pm
Production falls as the peak window opens. Grid power now costs up to 69.65 cents. Export values in rare peak hours can spike to several dollars per kWh, which is exactly when a battery has something to sell.
- At interconnection
Your export prices lock for 9 years from the Permission to Operate date, and unused bill credits roll over for up to 12 months before expiring.
The most expensive power on this site
San Diego Gas & Electric's average residential electricity price has risen from 20.81 cents per kWh in 2015 to 43.73 cents in 2025, an increase of about 110 percent, or roughly 7.7 percent per year. The chart compares SDG&E (solid) against the state residential average (dashed). Hover any point for the exact figure.
Current residential rates
SDG&E residential rates are shown below, from the utility's published tariffs and the public Utility Rate Database. Rates vary by plan, season, and usage and change over time.
| Plan | Energy charge | Fixed / basic |
|---|---|---|
| Schedule TOU-DR1 (standard time-of-use, default for most households), effective 1/1/2026 | Summer: on-peak 69.65 c/kWh, off-peak 47.56 c/kWh, super off-peak 38.82 c/kWh. Winter: on-peak 62.20 c/kWh, off-peak 54.02 c/kWh, super off-peak 44.93 c/kWh. A baseline credit of -10.91 c/kWh applies to the first 130% of the baseline allowance. | Base Services Charge 0.79343 $/day (about $24.12/month); reduced to 0.39688 $/day for DRAH/FERA |
| Schedule DR (standard tiered residential), effective 1/1/2026 | Tier 1 (up to 130% of baseline) 42.08 c/kWh; Tier 2 (above 130% of baseline) 52.99 c/kWh; same summer and winter. | Base Services Charge 0.79343 $/day (about $24.12/month) |
| Schedule EV-TOU-5 (whole-home EV plan) | Time-of-use rates roughly 12 to 68 c/kWh by period (super off-peak midnight to 6am cheapest, on-peak 4 to 9pm highest) | About $16/month basic service fee |
Rates are SDG&E total bundled rates (UDC delivery + EECC generation + DWR-BC/WF-NBC) from SDG&E's official Total Rates Table PDFs effective 1/1/2026. TOU-DR1 is SDG&E's standard/default residential schedule. The Base Services Charge (about $24.12/month) is California's new income-graduated fixed charge that took effect in 2026. EV-TOU-5 figures are approximate from a secondary source.
NEM 3.0 in SDG&E territory
SDG&E solar customers who interconnected on or after April 15, 2023 are on California's NEM 3.0, also called the Net Billing Tariff (NBT). Instead of crediting exported solar at the full retail rate (as the older NEM 2.0 did), exports are credited at hourly avoided-cost values that reflect what the grid would have paid to generate that energy at that moment. These export credits average roughly 8 cents/kWh, about 75% lower than the roughly 30 cents/kWh effective value under NEM 2.0, and they swing widely by hour and season, from near $0 during sunny midday hours to several dollars per kWh during peak summer evenings. Because the highest-value export window is the 4 to 9pm peak (after solar production drops off), a battery that stores midday production for evening export or self-use is now central to good solar economics in SDG&E territory. Export prices are locked in for 9 years from a system's Permission-to-Operate date, and unused bill credits roll over for up to 12 months before expiring. SDG&E customers do not receive the ACC Plus bonus adders that some other California utilities offer, because SDG&E's very high retail rates already produce a short payback from bill savings alone.
What rising SDG&E rates could cost you
SDG&E rates have risen about 7.7% per year. Enter your bill to see what that pace of increase could compound to over time, and what you have likely already absorbed. This is an estimate, not a guarantee.
Estimate only. Projects your current bill forward at SDG&E's historical average rate increase (7.7% per year, from EIA data); it assumes your usage stays the same except for any add-ons you select. Actual rates depend on your usage, rate plan, and the utility's future filings, and are not guaranteed. This is general information, not financial advice.
When 70 cent evenings meet 8 cent exports
SDG&E's retail prices are so high that self-consumed solar pays for itself faster here than almost anywhere in the country, which is why SDG&E customers get no ACC Plus bonus adders: regulators concluded bill savings alone already produce a short payback.
The export side follows the same logic as the rest of NEM 3.0 California: midday surplus is nearly worthless, evening power is precious, and a battery is the bridge between the two. Size for your own usage first, and get a site-specific quote.
SDG&E service area
SDG&E serves San Diego County and southern Orange County, California, a roughly 4,100-square-mile service area..
To confirm whether a specific address is served by SDG&E, check your electricity bill. A ZIP lookup tool is coming to this site.
Full data and sources
Per-utility prices are computed from EIA Form 861 (bundled residential revenue divided by sales), which reconciles to the EIA's published figures. The state average comes from EIA retail-sales data. These are public-domain U.S. government data.
| Year | SDG&E (c/kWh) | State avg (c/kWh) |
|---|---|---|
| 2015 | 20.81 | 16.99 |
| 2016 | 20.72 | 17.39 |
| 2017 | 22.09 | 18.31 |
| 2018 | 25.31 | 18.84 |
| 2019 | 25.78 | 19.15 |
| 2020 | 25.51 | 20.45 |
| 2021 | 30.65 | 22.82 |
| 2022 | 37.92 | 25.84 |
| 2023 | 45.48 | 29.51 |
| 2024 | 43.63 | 31.97 |
| 2025 | 43.73 | 32.54 |
Sources: EIA Form 861 detailed data files (Sales_Ult_Cust, 2015-2024) - source of the price series · EIA 2024 Utility Bundled Retail Sales - Residential (Table 6) - 2024 reconciliation: SDG&E 43.63 c/kWh · EIA Electric Sales, Revenue, and Average Price · SDG&E Schedule TOU-DR1 Total Rates Table, effective 1/1/2026 · SDG&E Schedule DR Total Rates Table, effective 1/1/2026 · SDG&E Total Electric Rates (tariff index) · SDG&E Net Energy Metering (NEM 3.0 / Net Billing Tariff) · EnergySage - SDG&E Net Metering (NEM 3.0) overview · Solar.com - 2024 SDG&E Electric Rates · SDG&E Our Company / About Us - service area and customer counts
FAQ
Why are SDG&E rates so high?
SDG&E's average residential price reached about 43.7 cents per kWh in 2025, the highest of any utility covered on this site, after rising about 7.7 percent per year for a decade. On the standard TOU-DR1 schedule, summer on-peak power costs 69.65 cents per kWh.
What does SDG&E pay for exported solar?
Under NEM 3.0, hourly avoided cost credits that average roughly 8 cents per kWh, about 75 percent below the old NEM 2.0 effective value. Credits swing from near zero at midday to several dollars per kWh in rare peak summer evening hours.
How long do my export rates and credits last?
Export prices are locked for 9 years from your system's Permission to Operate date, and unused bill credits roll over for up to 12 months before they expire.
Does SDG&E offer the ACC Plus bonus for solar?
No. ACC Plus adders went to utilities where solar payback needed help. SDG&E's very high retail rates already produce a short payback from bill savings alone, so its customers receive no adder.