Cheap power, by California standards
Sacramento Municipal Utility District's average residential electricity price has risen from 13.49 cents per kWh in 2015 to 18.93 cents in 2025, an increase of about 40 percent, or roughly 3.4 percent per year. The chart compares SMUD (solid) against the state residential average (dashed). Hover any point for the exact figure.
Current residential rates
SMUD 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Fixed Rate (flat, all-day) - Summer (Jun 1-Sep 30) | 21.89 c/kWh | $27.00/mo System Infrastructure Fixed Charge (SIFC) |
| Fixed Rate (flat, all-day) - Non-Summer (Oct 1-May 31) | 13.71 c/kWh | $27.00/mo SIFC |
| Time-of-Day (5-8 p.m. peak) - Summer Peak / Mid-Peak / Off-Peak | 37.65 / 21.39 / 15.50 c/kWh (Peak / Mid-Peak / Off-Peak; Non-Summer 17.76 Peak / 12.85 Off-Peak) | $27.00/mo SIFC |
Standard residential rates effective June 20, 2025 (per SMUD residential rate schedule). The default residential plan is the Time-of-Day (5-8 p.m.) rate; a flat Fixed Rate option is available and runs on average about 4% higher than TOD. All plans carry the same $27.00/month System Infrastructure Fixed Charge. Hydrogeneration charge is currently $0.00/kWh.
Two SMUD solar regimes, split by one date
Installed before March 1, 2022
Grandfathered on SMUD's old net energy metering through December 31, 2030, unless you move, materially modify the system, or add SMUD incentivized storage.
Approved on or after March 1, 2022
The mandatory Solar and Storage Rate: self-consumption offsets retail, and exports earn a flat 9.6 cents per kWh (raised from 7.4 cents effective June 1, 2026), regardless of hour or season. SMUD revisits the export rate every four years, capped at plus or minus 30 percent per cycle.
The Solar and Storage Rate
SMUD is a publicly owned municipal utility, so it is NOT regulated by the CPUC and does NOT use California's NEM 3.0 / NBT framework. Instead it runs its own mandatory Solar and Storage Rate (SSR), in effect for all new residential solar/solar+storage systems approved on or after March 1, 2022. Under SSR, you first use solar to offset your own usage in real time; any excess energy you export to the grid is credited at a flat Export Compensation Rate of 9.6 cents/kWh, effective June 1, 2026 (raised from 7.4 cents/kWh) - the same credit regardless of time of day or season. That export credit is well below the retail energy price (about 14-22 cents/kWh), so the economics favor self-consuming solar (and pairing with a battery) rather than exporting. SMUD updates the export rate every four years, capped at plus or minus 30% per cycle. Customers who installed under the older Net Energy Metering (NEM) rate before March 1, 2022 are grandfathered on NEM through Dec. 31, 2030 (unless they move, materially modify their system, or add SMUD-incentivized storage).
The honest math on SMUD solar
Be honest about the math: SMUD's rates are among the lowest in California, about 18.9 cents on average, so each solar kWh offsets less and payback runs longer than it would on an investor owned utility. Sacramento buyers should be more skeptical of aggressive savings pitches than buyers in PG&E or SDG&E territory.
The structure still rewards the right design. Exports earn a flat 9.6 cents against retail energy prices around 14 to 22 cents, so self-consumption is worth more than surplus, and the 5 to 8 pm time of day peak is the window a battery would target. If a quote pencils here, it will be because it was sized to your usage, not to the export meter.
What rising SMUD rates could cost you
SMUD rates have risen about 3.4% 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 SMUD's historical average rate increase (3.4% 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.
SMUD service area
SMUD serves Sacramento, California.
To confirm whether a specific address is served by SMUD, 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 | SMUD (c/kWh) | State avg (c/kWh) |
|---|---|---|
| 2015 | 13.49 | 16.99 |
| 2016 | 13.92 | 17.39 |
| 2017 | 14.06 | 18.31 |
| 2018 | 14.45 | 18.84 |
| 2019 | 14.91 | 19.15 |
| 2020 | 15.28 | 20.45 |
| 2021 | 16.21 | 22.82 |
| 2022 | 16.74 | 25.84 |
| 2023 | 16.89 | 29.51 |
| 2024 | 17.87 | 31.97 |
| 2025 | 18.93 | 32.54 |
Sources: EIA Form EIA-861 annual data (Sales to Ultimate Customers files, 2015-2024) - source of SMUD bundled residential revenue/sales/customers · EIA Electricity Sales, Revenue, and Average Price - Table 6 (avg residential price by utility), 2024 sanity check · SMUD Residential rates (Fixed Rate and Time-of-Day, SIFC $27/mo; effective June 20, 2025) · SMUD Solar and Storage Rate (SSR) schedule and program details · SMUD news: Solar and Storage export compensation raised to 9.6 c/kWh effective June 1, 2026 (from 7.4 c/kWh) · SMUD service area / company information (counties, ~900 sq mi, ~1.6M population, total accounts) · Sacramento Municipal Utility District - Wikipedia (service area: Sacramento County, parts of Placer County)
FAQ
Is SMUD on California's NEM 3.0?
No. SMUD is a publicly owned municipal utility outside CPUC jurisdiction. New systems approved on or after March 1, 2022 fall under SMUD's own Solar and Storage Rate instead.
What does SMUD pay for exported solar?
A flat Export Compensation Rate of 9.6 cents per kWh effective June 1, 2026, raised from 7.4 cents, the same credit at every hour. SMUD updates the rate every four years, capped at plus or minus 30 percent per cycle.
Is solar worth it with SMUD's low rates?
The payback is genuinely longer here than in high rate territories, because each offset kWh saves roughly 14 to 22 cents instead of 30 to 50. Systems sized tightly to self-consumption fare best. Treat any quote promising PG&E style savings with skepticism and get site-specific numbers.
I installed solar before March 2022. What are my terms?
You are grandfathered on SMUD's older net energy metering through December 31, 2030, unless you move, materially modify the system, or add SMUD incentivized storage, any of which moves you to the Solar and Storage Rate.