SCE rate increases over time
Southern California Edison's average residential electricity price has risen from 16.51 cents per kWh in 2015 to 32.43 cents in 2024, an increase of about 96 percent, or roughly 7.8 percent per year. The chart compares SCE (solid) against the state residential average (dashed). Hover any point for the exact figure.
What rising SCE rates could cost you
SCE rates have risen about 7.8% 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 SCE's historical average rate increase (7.8% 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.
Current residential rates
SCE residential customers are on time-of-use (TOU) plans, where the price depends on the hour. The structure below is from the OpenEI Utility Rate Database (a public, republishable snapshot). SCE raised rates again in late 2025, so the live peak price is now higher than the snapshot, current weekday 4 to 9 pm peaks run well above 50 cents per kWh.
| Plan | Energy charge | Fixed / basic |
|---|---|---|
| TOU-D-4-9PM (standard default) | Off-peak about 28c, peak (4 to 9 pm) about 33c | about $0.94/mo basic charge |
| TOU-D-PRIME (new solar, battery, or EV homes) | Off-peak about 26c, peak (4 to 9 pm) about 61c | about $15.60/mo basic charge |
Rates are approximate, vary by season and baseline allocation, and change often. Confirm current pricing on SCE's rate pages before making decisions.
Net metering and solar export: NEM 3.0 (Net Billing Tariff)
SCE is an investor-owned utility regulated by the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC), so it is under NEM 3.0, also called the Net Billing Tariff, which took effect April 15, 2023.
Under NEM 3.0, the solar power you export to the grid is credited at avoided-cost rates, which average only about 3 to 4 cents per kWh, rather than the much higher retail rate you pay to import. That is roughly a 75 percent cut to export value compared with the old NEM 2.0.
A California appeals court upheld NEM 3.0 in early 2026, so it remains in effect. New SCE solar customers are placed on the TOU-D-PRIME plan.
What it means for solar
SCE has some of the highest electricity rates in the country and they have risen fast, which is the main reason solar can be attractive here: every kWh you generate and use yourself offsets an expensive retail kWh.
But because NEM 3.0 pays little for exported power, the economics now favor using your own solar on-site and pairing panels with a battery to shift solar into the expensive 4 to 9 pm peak window, rather than selling surplus back to the grid. Whether solar pencils out depends on your usage, roof, and whether you add storage; get a site-specific quote.
SCE service area
SCE serves a large, non-contiguous territory across central and Southern California. It does not serve the City of Los Angeles (that is LADWP), San Diego (SDG&E), or a number of municipal pockets such as Riverside, Anaheim, Pasadena, Burbank, and Glendale.
SCE's footprint interleaves with LADWP and a dozen municipal utilities, so a simple ZIP-range list is not reliable. Major cities it serves include Long Beach, Irvine, Santa Ana, Huntington Beach, Rancho Cucamonga, Ontario, Fontana, Thousand Oaks, Santa Barbara, Visalia, and the Palm Springs area.
To confirm whether a specific address is on SCE, check your utility bill or look up your ZIP code (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 | SCE (c/kWh) | State avg (c/kWh) |
|---|---|---|
| 2015 | 16.51 | 16.99 |
| 2016 | 15.84 | 17.39 |
| 2017 | 16.6 | 18.31 |
| 2018 | 16.3 | 18.84 |
| 2019 | 16.21 | 19.15 |
| 2020 | 18.22 | 20.45 |
| 2021 | 21.33 | 22.82 |
| 2022 | 24.62 | 25.84 |
| 2023 | 32.33 | 29.51 |
| 2024 | 32.43 | 31.97 |
Sources: EIA Form 861 (per-utility sales, revenue, and price) · EIA Electric Sales, Revenue, and Average Price (Table 6) · OpenEI Utility Rate Database · SCE residential time-of-use plans
FAQ
How much have SCE electricity rates gone up?
SCE's average residential price rose about 96 percent since 2015, roughly 7.8 percent per year, reaching about 32.43 cents per kWh in 2024.
Does SCE offer net metering for solar?
SCE uses NEM 3.0 (Net Billing Tariff). See the net metering section above for exactly how exported solar is credited and what that means for your system.
Is solar worth it with SCE?
It depends on your electricity usage, roof, system size, and whether you add a battery. Higher rates and rate increases make solar more attractive, but the value of exported power depends on SCE's net metering rules. Get a site-specific quote rather than relying on a general estimate.
Where does this rate data come from?
The per-year prices come from the U.S. Energy Information Administration's Form 861, and the current rate structures come from the public Utility Rate Database. Both are public, free, and updated regularly.