Your bill, explained
Your LADWP bill, explained
Page 1 The summary
$1,749.45 is everything
Power, water, sewer and trash, for two months.
Electricity: $892.36
2,746 kWh from 5/26 to 7/25. LADWP bills every two months.
Water: $109.83
On the same bill. Solar doesn't touch it.
Sewer and trash: $747.26
The City's Bureau of Sanitation, collected by LADWP on the City's behalf.
Page 3 Your electric charges
Your allowance, in tiers
Zone 2, every two months. Each tier is an allowance with its own price:
Tier 1first 1,000 kWh25.2¢Tier 2next 2,000 kWh31.1¢Tier 3above 3,000 kWhhigher01,0003,000this home, 2,746Power Access Charge: $15.80
A fixed fee set by your highest month of the past year. This home's peak, 1,409 kWh, fell in Tier 2, so it pays $15.80 every bill until LADWP rescores in October. Tier 3 is $45.40.
32.5¢ per kWh, all in
Total electric charges divided by the kWh used: what this home really pays for each one.
$892.36÷2,746 kWh=32.5¢
What else is in the price
Most of the price per kWh is adjustments LADWP resets each quarter. Then the City adds its tax:
- ECA
- fuel and power LADWP buys
- VEA
- other fuel and power costs, and past shortfalls
- CRPSEA, VRPSEA
- renewable energy and efficiency programs
- RCA, IRCA
- poles, lines and plants: grid reliability
- ESA
- discounts for seniors, disabled and low-income customers
- City tax
- 10% on top of every energy charge, set by the City
How LADWP prices your power
Tiers, every two months
| Zone 1 | Zone 2 | |
|---|---|---|
| Tier 1 | first 700 kWh | first 1,000 kWh |
| Tier 2 | next 1,400 kWh | next 2,000 kWh |
| Tier 3 | above 2,100 | above 3,000 |
The price per tier is the same in both zones. Hotter Zone 2, mostly the San Fernando Valley, gets more kWh before it steps up. The zone prints on page 3.
The Power Access Charge
A fixed charge set by your highest single month in the past 12 months, rescored every October: $4.60, $15.80 or $45.40 a bill for Tier 1, 2 or 3. One hot month can hold a home in the top bracket for a year.
The adjustments, by name
- ECA, Energy Cost Adjustment
- Fuel and the power LADWP buys, including renewables and energy-saving programs.
- VEA, Variable Energy Adjustment
- Other fuel and power purchases, and costs LADWP under-collected in the past.
- CRPSEA and VRPSEA, Renewable Portfolio Standard adjustments
- Running and paying for the renewable energy the state requires, plus efficiency programs.
- RCA and IRCA, Reliability Cost Adjustments
- Investment in poles, lines, substations and plants to keep the grid reliable.
- ESA, Electric Subsidy Adjustment
- Discounts for seniors, disabled and low-income customers, and city services like traffic lights.
Together they are most of the price per kWh, and LADWP resets them every quarter.
Source: LADWP adjustment factors
Solar with LADWP
LADWP credits what your panels send back one for one, at the retail rate. Credits carry forward but never pay out in cash and end when the account closes, so a system is sized to what the home uses. On its time-of-use plan, the high-peak hours are 1 to 5 p.m. on weekdays, when panels produce the most.
Source: LADWP net metering for solar, LADWP time-of-use periods
Also explained: SCE · PG&EQuestions about your own bill? Call (619) 415-9647.