Davis and West Sacramento pay $290 a month for power. Sacramento pays $149.
The proceeding that sets the higher number, PG&E's rate case A.25-05-009, is open now and decides 2027 through 2030. The public comment window closed in November; the decision is expected around May 2027.
Juno Reyes · Sacramento Local Desk2 min
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Homes in West Sacramento and Davis currently pay nearly double for electricity compared to their neighbors just across the county line in Sacramento proper, and state regulators are now reviewing a new rate proposal that could shape bills for years to come. This stark difference in utility costs highlights a critical divide within the broader Sacramento region, where customers are served by either the publicly owned Sacramento Municipal Utility District (SMUD) or the investor-owned Pacific Gas and Electric (PG&E).
For a typical residence consuming 750 kilowatt-hours per month, a PG&E customer in communities like West Sacramento, Davis, Woodland, or El Dorado Hills pays approximately $290. Meanwhile, a SMUD customer in the city of Sacramento or unincorporated Sacramento County pays around $149 for the same usage, according to SMUD’s own published rate comparison effective June 1, 2026. This means SMUD’s rates average more than 50% lower than its neighboring investor-owned utility.
The future of PG&E bills in these areas is now under review by the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC), which regulates investor-owned utilities. PG&E's 2027 General Rate Case (GRC) application, A.25-05-009, filed in May 2025, proposes rates covering the years 2027 through 2030. Within this application, PG&E claims its proposal represents its "smallest GRC percentage increase in a decade" and projects that 2027 residential combined gas and electric bills will be "flat compared to 2025 bills."
However, this projection is a company claim that will be thoroughly tested by the CPUC. While Public Participation Hearings for this specific application were held in October and November 2025 and are now complete, the proceeding remains in a litigated phase. CPUC materials indicate that a decision authorizing new rates is expected around May 2027, with any new rates taking effect no earlier than January 2027. This timeline means that while the public comment period for initial hearings has closed, the final outcome, and its impact on customer bills, is still pending.
For residents in PG&E’s service areas, understanding the distinction between their utility provider and the ongoing regulatory process is key. The CPUC’s final decision will determine whether PG&E’s "flat bill" projection holds true or if customers will face further increases, continuing the trend of significantly higher costs compared to their SMUD neighbors.
What does a PG&E household here actually pay in 2027?
The Commission grants less than the company asked
likelyThe common outcome in a general rate case: the authorized revenue lands below the request after staff and ratepayer advocates finish testing it. Bills move, but by less than the application implies.
Watch for A proposed decision published on the docket with an authorized revenue requirement lower than PG&E's filed request.
Bills land roughly flat, as the company projects
possiblePG&E's own filing projects 2027 residential combined gas and electric bills flat against 2025. That is the company's projection inside its own application, not a finding by the regulator.
Watch for A decision that pairs the authorized revenue with rate design holding the residential class near its current bill, and no offsetting charge arriving from a separate proceeding.
Something outside this docket moves the bill more than this docket does
possibleA general rate case is only one input. Wildfire cost recovery, fuel costs and separately authorized charges each ride on the same bill and are decided in their own proceedings.
Watch for New applications or authorized charges appearing on the Commission's docket for PG&E outside A.25-05-009 while this one is still being litigated.
What would prove us wrong We are forecasting a proceeding, not a household. If the Commission issues its decision on a materially different timeline than the record currently suggests, or if the residential class is treated differently than the overall revenue change implies, the shape above is wrong and we will publish the correction as prominently as this.
Figures published by SMUD in its own rate comparison. Which of these two numbers applies to a household here is decided by nothing more than which side of a service boundary the meter sits on — and only the second one is affected by the proceeding above.
- PG&E files its 2027 rate applicationMay 15, 2025
Application A.25-05-009 goes to the California Public Utilities Commission, asking to set what the company may collect from customers across 2027 through 2030. Nothing about it is hidden; it is a public docket from the day it is filed.
- The public participation hearings are heldOctober–November 2025
The window in which any customer could speak on the record without a lawyer. It opened and closed while almost nobody outside the proceeding knew it existed. This is the step this article exists to make visible earlier next time.
- The litigated phase — where the number is actually arguedNow
Commission staff, ratepayer advocates and intervenors test the company's request line by line. The filings remain public throughout. What the company asked for and what it is granted are rarely the same figure.
- The Commission decidesExpected around May 2027
A decision authorizing the revenue the company may collect, and with it the shape of the rates underneath.
- It reaches the billJanuary 2027 at the earliest
New rates take effect for PG&E customers. In this region that means West Sacramento, Davis, Woodland and El Dorado Hills — not the city of Sacramento, which buys its power from SMUD and is untouched by this proceeding.
If your meter is read by PG&E, this proceeding sets part of what you pay for the next four years. If it is read by SMUD, this particular chain stops before it reaches you — a different body, elected by you, sets that number instead.