California’s electricity rates have been rising steadily for years, outpacing both inflation and wage growth across the state. New research shows California recorded the largest increase in electricity prices in the U.S. between 2019 and 2025.
Data from the Energy Institute at UC Berkeley’s Haas School of Business shows electricity rates in California rose by 39% between 2019 and 2025, the largest increase of any state during that period.
Additionally, inflation-adjusted electricity prices in California have increased by 46% since 2014.
In 2024, California had the second-highest average electricity price in the country, after Hawaii, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.
California is one of the nation’s largest electricity producers, ranking fourth in the U.S., yet residents still pay some of the highest electricity rates.
Electricity bills are no longer just a routine household expense for many Californians; they have become a financial strain.
A report from the Transparency Foundation shows that a middle-class family of three earning $130,000 a year faces an annual “Cost of California” penalty of nearly $30,000 compared with national average household expenses.
Utilities, including electricity, account for a large share of household expenses. Rather than building savings, many families run five-figure annual deficits driven by higher living costs.
Dave McCulloch, chairman of the Transparency Foundation, says, “This report should be a wake-up call to all Californians that they are being unfairly punished by the bad policies imposed on them by their politicians – and they are literally paying the price for it.”
Assemblymember Tri Ta said long-standing state policy choices, rather than unavoidable market forces, are a key driver of rising utility bills. He has twice introduced legislation aimed at preventing utility rates from increasing faster than inflation, though both efforts stalled in committee.
California’s electricity rates are among the highest in the nation, the result of years of policy decisions that have steadily driven costs upward and left consumers feeling the strain. I have twice introduced legislation to cap utility rate increases, but each effort stalled in… pic.twitter.com/T753iDzpde
— Assemblyman Tri Ta (@TriTa4CA) February 9, 2026
When comparing California to other states, electricity prices nationwide have generally stayed in line with inflation or declined since 2014. States such as Nevada, Idaho, and South Carolina have seen inflation-adjusted rate decreases, while California moved in the opposite direction.
Even among states with notable increases, such as Maine and Washington, D.C., growth rates remain below California’s pace.
One factor behind California’s rising electricity rates is the growing share of non-energy costs embedded in utility bills.
According to a report from the Little Hoover Commission, ratepayers are increasingly paying for wildfire mitigation, grid hardening, climate-related mandates, and legacy policy obligations that are largely unrelated to the cost of producing electricity.
These expenses are passed directly to customers through regulated rate structures, making bills higher even when fuel prices or electricity demand remain stable.
Gotta pay for all the fires they start, plus all the hardening and climate mitigation, without reducing executive bonuses, ya know.
A couple key points in the article
A report from the Transparency Foundation shows that a middle-class family of three earning $130,000 a year faces an annual “Cost of California” penalty of nearly $30,000 compared with national average household expenses.
Dave McCulloch, chairman of the Transparency Foundation, says, “This report should be a wake-up call to all Californians that they are being unfairly punished by the bad policies imposed on them by their politicians – and they are literally paying the price for it.”
Sail380: I don’t doubt the accuracy of the report that you cited, but….Cali is still, and will remain, the best state to live in the USA. When you go to the best of anything, such as a hotel, restaurant, ski resort, etc., you can expect to pay extra. How much anyone is willing to pay extra is up to each individual (family, corporation, whatever). I’ve have visited or lived in all fifty states, and have to visited or lived in many/many foreign countries. Every state and country has drawbacks, but what we have here in California is on the next level of “Wowzerz!” Beaches, deserts, forests, mountains, and on and on, but the big kicker for those of us living in Santa Barbara is….drum roller-roonie please…the weather. World’s fourth largest economy means jobs, jobs, jobs, and more jobs. Yeah, we got it pretty good here compared to .
So because we like it here just let yourself get shafted and pay more than you should? It’s all good, right? Huh…sounds like a rich person’s take who doesn’t mind writing a blind check. CA is really having a tough time managing its infrastructure despite having so much money at its disposal. Maybe that’s exactly the problem. Too much of someone else’s money to spend.
Which grandkid wrote this?
Speak for yourself, me and nearly everyone I know are having a tough time finding a job. Still love CA, but the legislature hasn’t exactly been keeping up with the affordability crisis in the past decade. I’ve had many friends and mentors leave because they can’t afford it.
The Transparency Foundation is a bunch of right wingers associated with Republican politician Carl DeMaio.
It was only a matter of time before someone pulled the “right winger” card out. Electricity, water, insurance rates have all skyrocketed and Newsom has done little to nothing to alleviate these trends.
00ps and you just been sitting there waiting to cry about it, huh? Electricity would be way cheaper if Trump stopped cancelling energy production leases. That’s a simple fact.
How do you expect Newsom lower rates that PRIVATE companies are charging us? You guys scream and howl about “socialism” and then complain the government isn’t doing more to interfere with capitalism.
I was waiting for someone to pull the Gavin card. Homeowners insurance rates are rising across the U.S., driven by natural disasters, rising cost of building materials due to Trump tariffs and surging home prices.
What are you, some kind of Socialist? You want daddy government to do everything for you? Lame.