Understanding Your Energy Bill

Energy can be complicated. Let’s walk through your energy bill.

Your Energy Bill Explained

San Diego Community Power customers receive one bill from SDG&E. Community Power appears as a line item on your SDG&E bill, but this is not an extra charge. We are simply replacing the electricity generation charge that you would otherwise pay to SDG&E.

What’s in Your Energy Bill?

Community Power purchases electricity generated from more renewable sources on behalf of our customers. SDG&E delivers this electricity to you and maintains the power lines. Customers receive one bill, which includes charges for electricity generation and electricity delivery.

Electricity Generation

This refers to the energy that you are using. Rates vary depending on which Community Power service plan you choose or if you choose to return to SDG&E’s electricity generation service. You can view our service plans here.

Wind turbines and solar panels working together on a sunny hillside, representing renewable energy production.

Electricity Delivery

This refers to SDG&E’s fees for delivering electricity to you and maintaining power lines. SDG&E delivery rates are the same for everyone, regardless of who your electric generation provider is.
Power transmission lines stretch across the horizon at sunset, carrying electricity from renewable energy sources to homes and businesses.

Your Energy Bill Explained

This is a sample bill. Your charges will vary depending on your service plan and energy usage.

If you have rooftop solar, view our Net Energy Metering (NEM) page or Solar Billing Plan (SBP) page for more applicable information.

If you are a medium or large commercial customer, please note that your bill may include an additional “Demand On-Peak Summer” line item under your CCA Electricity Generation Charges between June 1 and October 31. This charge is applied to the highest kilowatt demand (kW) that occurs during peak demand periods and recovers the generation costs of meeting peak energy demands. The Summer On-Peak Demand charge is assessed for some medium and large commercial rates, whether you are enrolled in Community Power or SDG&E electricity generation services. If you’d like more information on how this may impact your bill, please call our Contact Center at 888-382-0169.

Residential Bill Sample

Click on the numbers below for descriptions of each line item on the bill sample.

Page 1 of a sample SDG&E electric bill for San Diego Community Power, dated March 19, 2026. The bill shows an account summary with a previous balance of $131.88, a payment received of -$131.88, and current charges of $140.64, for a total amount due of $140.64 to be paid via Automatic Pay on April 3, 2026. A summary of current charges lists Electric Delivery at $100.83 and CCA Electric Generation at $39.81 for the billing period of February 12 to March 13, 2026, covering 251 kWh. A bar chart on the right shows electric usage history over the past 12 months broken down by On-Peak, Off-Peak, and Super Off-Peak usage. Regulatory notices about the Competition Transition Charge and PCIA are included at the bottom. A detachable payment stub is shown at the bottom of the page.
1

Your SDG&E Account Number

Please have this number on hand to make changes to your service.

2

Summary of Current Charges

This section provides an overview of your total electricity delivery charges from SDG&E and total electricity generation charges from Community Power. These charges are explained in more detail below.

3

Electricity Usage History

This chart shows your electricity usage month over month for the past year.

Page 2 of a sample SDG&E electric bill, dated March 19, 2026, with an amount due of $140.64. The left side shows a detailed breakdown of current electric charges, including a Base Services Charge of $23.80, Electricity Delivery charges totaling $85.59 broken down by On-Peak, Off-Peak, and Super Off-Peak winter usage, a Wildfire Fund Charge of $1.48, Electricity Generation charges of $48.76, and various credits including an Electricity Generation Credit of -$48.76 and a Baseline Adjustment Credit of -$27.37. Total Electric Charges are $92.42, with taxes and fees of $8.41, for a Total Electric Service of $100.83. The right side features a donut chart showing the breakdown of total current charges of $140.64, split 55% Electric Charges, 28% Other Charges and Credits, and 17% CCA Electric Generation Charges, with an itemized list below.
4

Breakdown of Current Charges

This chart shows the total bill costs associated with each service provided, including electricity generation (Community Power), electricity transmission and delivery (SDG&E) and gas (SDG&E).

SDG&E Base Services Charge

This SDG&E charge for residential customers reflects certain fixed costs related to the energy grid (including transformers, meters and customer services) that, prior to October 2025, were included in SDG&E's electricity delivery charges.

6

SDG&E Electricity Delivery Charges

These SDG&E charges cover the cost of delivering electricity through SDG&E's power lines to your home.

7

Electricity Generation Credit

This credit shows what SDG&E would have charged you if it provided your electricity generation service. SDG&E issues this charge back to Community Power customers as a credit so you do not pay double for generation charges.

8

Power Charge Indifference Adjustment (PCIA)

SDG&E collects this fee to cover the cost of energy that it contracted for its customers. The PCIA is paid by all customers, whether you are enrolled in Community Power electricity generation services or not. The PCIA is not a new charge — it was previously included in SDG&E’s electricity generation charges but is now broken out as a separate line item.

Learn more in this video.

Page 3 of a sample SDG&E electric bill, dated March 19, 2026, with an amount due of $140.64. The page is divided into two sections. The top section displays the SDG&E Rate Identification Number (RIN) with a QR code for accessing hourly electric pricing information, along with the meter number and RIN code. Below that, a section titled "Community Choice Aggregation (CCA) Electric Generation Charges" identifies San Diego Community Power as the CCA provider at 1-888-382-0169, and itemizes generation charges by On-Peak, Off-Peak, and Super Off-Peak winter usage rates, plus a Power100 charge and State Surcharge Tax, totaling $39.81 in CCA Electric Generation Charges and $140.64 in Total Current Charges. The bottom section shows the SDCP Rate Identification Number with a second QR code for SDCP Electric Generation pricing information.
9

Community Power Electricity Generation Charges

These Community Power charges cover the cost of the actual electricity that you used during the billing period. This is not an additional charge. It simply replaces the electricity generation charge that you would otherwise pay to SDG&E.

Learn more in this video.

10

Power100

If you are enrolled in Community Power’s 100% renewable Power100 service, your bill will include an additional line item showing the premium for this service. You can view our service plans here.

Identify Your Service Plan

If you are enrolled in Community Power’s PowerBase service plan, your bill will show "PowerBase" directly after your CCA rate and vintage year under Community Power charges. For example, this bill would read “Your CCA rate is TOU-DR-1 - 2021 Vintage - PowerBase.”

If you do not see “PowerBase” after your vintage year or a Power100 line item on your bill, then you are likely enrolled in our standard PowerOn service plan. You can view our service options here.

Page 4 of a sample SDG&E electric bill, dated March 19, 2026, with an amount due of $140.64. The left side features an "Electricity Dashboard" section highlighting the highest usage hour for the month: 4.1 kW on February 27, 2026 from 10:00 pm to 11:00 pm, accompanied by an orange lightning bolt icon and an explanation that demand is the highest amount of electricity used at a given point in time. The right side displays a "Time of Use – Electricity" section listing winter kWh usage by On-Peak (73), Off-Peak (115), and Super Off-Peak (63) for a total of 251 kWh, followed by two tables showing Time of Use period schedules for weekdays and weekends/holidays during Summer (June 1–October 31) and Winter (November 1–May 31) seasons.

Time-of-Use Schedules

When you use energy matters just as much as how much energy you use. For customers on Time-of-Use (TOU) rate schedules, this page identifies your highest usage hour over the billing period and outlines the pricing windows for electricity.

Electricity is most expensive during “on-peak” hours, when demand is highest. It is least expensive during “super off-peak” hours. Learn more on our Time-of-Use page.

Explore more ways to save.

Local, state and/or federal payment assistance could help you save on your energy bill.

Saving electricity can be easy — and can help you save on your energy bill.

You have the power to choose the service plan that works best for you.