SMUD (Sacramento Municipal Utility District) commercial electricity rates in California

• Average commercial price, 202517.57¢per kWh, all commercial customers
• vs California average−33%state commercial average 26.16¢
• Commercial customers71,7035th largest of 29 in California
• Average use4,530 kWha month per commercial customer
• Average bill$796a month per commercial customer
• Since 2015+34%from 13.09¢ per kWh
• Outages50 mina year per customer · US average 124

SMUD (Sacramento Municipal Utility District) is a public power utility (a political subdivision of the state, in EIA’s terms) serving 3 counties in California. Among the 29 California utilities in EIA’s 2025 sales data with 500 or more commercial customers, it is the 5th largest, with about 4.0% of the state’s commercial customers. EIA lists it as Sacramento Municipal Util Dist.

SMUD commercial electricity prices, 2015 to 2025

In 2015 SMUD billed its commercial customers an average of 13.09¢ per kWh. In 2025 the figure was 17.57¢, so it rose 34% over 10 years. The average for all commercial customers in California rose 66% over the same period. The latest year, 2025, is the highest of the 11 on record here. Between 2024 and 2025 it rose 7.9%.

Average use and average bill are the utility’s commercial sales and revenue divided by its commercial customers and by twelve. The bill is an all-in figure: energy, delivery, demand and fixed charges together. A few very large customers pull both averages up, so most businesses use and pay less than the average.

Residential, commercial and industrial prices at SMUD

In 2025 the average commercial price at SMUD was 7.2% below the residential figure and 29% above the industrial one. Larger customers take power at a higher voltage and use it more steadily, so at most utilities the average falls from residential to commercial to industrial. Which class an account falls in is the utility’s decision, and the line between commercial and industrial is drawn differently from one utility to the next.

How SMUD’s commercial rates are set

SMUD is a public body with its own board, and that board sets its rates. A commercial account is billed on a rate schedule, chosen by the size of the account and the voltage it takes power at, and a schedule usually combines a fixed monthly charge, a charge per kWh and, above a certain size, a demand charge on the highest rate of draw in the month. The schedule code is printed on the bill. What a business in California can and cannot choose is on the California page.

Meters, time-varying rates and net metering at SMUD

EIA counts 71,817 commercial meters at SMUD in 2025, and 71,759 of them (more than 99%) are advanced meters (AMI), which record use at least hourly and report it to the utility at least daily. Of the rest, 58 are standard meters. An advanced meter is what makes interval data possible, and interval data is what shows when a building’s peak demand happens.

At SMUD, 66,222 commercial customers were on a time-varying rate in 2025, about 92% of its commercial customers. A time-varying rate charges more in some hours than in others, so when a business uses power matters as well as how much. The kinds SMUD reports offering commercial customers are time-of-use pricing.

EIA records 1,959 commercial net-metered generating systems at SMUD in 2025, with 103 MW of capacity between them: about 27 for every 1,000 commercial customers. Net metering credits a customer for power its own system sends to the grid; the terms are in the utility’s tariff.

How reliable is SMUD’s electric service?

SMUD customers went without power for an average of 50 minutes in 2025, excluding major storms, with about 0.87 interruptions per customer. The average across U.S. utilities reporting the same way is 124 minutes. This utility reports on a different measurement standard, so the comparison is only approximate. These are averages over every customer of every class, so they describe the system and not any one street.

Where SMUD serves

EIA records SMUD serving customers in 3 California counties: Placer, Sacramento, Yolo. A county can be shared between utilities, so this does not tell you who serves a given address. The utility that serves an address is the one named on its bill.

EIA lists the Balancing Authority of Northern California as its balancing authority, the body that keeps supply and demand matched minute by minute across the area.

Other utilities in California

The average each billed its commercial customers in 2025. The California page has the state’s own figures and every utility with 500 or more commercial customers.

• Southern California Edison (22.94¢)
• PG&E (38.42¢)
• SDG&E (39.12¢)
• LADWP (25.00¢)
• Modesto Irrigation District (18.23¢)
• Imperial Irrigation District (18.24¢)
• Anaheim Public Utilities (20.91¢)
• Glendale Water & Power (26.05¢)
• Riverside Public Utilities (20.05¢)

What these figures can and cannot tell you

• They are averages over every commercial customer. A utility whose commercial customers are mostly large averages fewer cents per kWh than one serving mostly small shops, so a lower figure can mean larger customers and not a lower rate.
• They are not a rate schedule. None of these figures is a charge printed in SMUD’s tariff, and nothing here works out a bill from one. The tariff index lists the utilities whose filed schedules are quoted on this site.
• They are annual and final. EIA publishes utility figures once a year. The California page carries the state’s trailing 12 months, which is more recent and still preliminary.

For one building, the cost estimator gives a range by building type, size and state, and price by utility sets every utility side by side. Commercial vs residential vs industrial compares the classes in every state.

Data: every year of these figures, for this utility and every other with a page, is in one CSV, free to use with credit to the U.S. Energy Information Administration and this site. To cite this page: SMUD commercial electricity rates, CommercialElectricityRates.com, from EIA Form EIA-861 final 2025 data.

Common questions about SMUD

What is the average commercial electricity rate at SMUD?

SMUD billed its commercial customers in California an average of 17.57¢ per kWh in 2025, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. That is 33% below the California commercial average of 26.16¢. It is the utility’s commercial revenue divided by its commercial sales, so it describes the whole class and is not the rate on any one schedule.

How much is the average commercial electric bill at SMUD?

About $796 a month in 2025, on average use of about 4,530 kWh a month. That is SMUD’s commercial revenue divided by its 71,703 commercial customers. A few very large accounts pull the average up, so most businesses pay less than this.

Have SMUD’s commercial electricity rates gone up?

The average SMUD billed commercial customers rose 34% between 2015 and 2025, from 13.09¢ to 17.57¢ per kWh. The California commercial average rose 66% over the same period.

How reliable is SMUD’s electric service?

SMUD customers averaged 50 minutes without power in 2025, excluding major storms, against a 124-minute average for U.S. utilities reporting the same way (EIA).

Does SMUD use smart meters for businesses?

EIA counts 71,759 advanced (AMI) meters among SMUD’s 71,817 commercial meters in 2025, which is more than 99%. An advanced meter records use at least hourly, which is what makes interval data and time-varying rates possible.

Is this the rate my business will pay SMUD?

No. It is an average over every commercial customer, from a corner shop to a campus. What one business pays depends on its rate schedule, how much it uses and how hard it draws at its peak. The schedule code is printed on the bill, and the schedule itself is in SMUD’s tariff.