California · Municipal · serves 22 ZIP codes
City of Riverside - (CA) rate plans
One residential plan is currently open to new customers. It charges different prices depending on the hour, so when you use power changes the bill.
A household using 1,000 kWh a month pays about $2,191 a year on Domestic TOU Service - Medium Residence, the only residential plan here — $1,069 at 500 kWh, $4,710 at 2,000 kWh.
What does City of Riverside - (CA)'s residential rate cost?
City of Riverside - (CA) files a single residential tariff, so there is no plan to choose between — everyone served here is on the same terms. That makes this page short on comparison and long on one question instead: what does that tariff actually do to a bill?
Priced hour by hour across a full year, a small apartment on this tariff comes to about $889 and a three-bedroom house with central air to about $1,672 — an effective 18.3¢ and 17.7¢ per kilowatt-hour once the fixed charge is spread across everything used.
The one lever you do have is timing. This tariff charges 19.9¢ at its most expensive hour and 10.8¢ at its cheapest, so every kilowatt-hour a day moved from 2pm to midnight is worth roughly $33 a year. Car charging, a water heater on a timer and laundry are the loads that move; cooking and air conditioning largely are not.
Expect the bill to swing with the weather rather than with anything you decide: the same house costs around $194 in July and $105 in February. Budget against the higher figure and the summer bill stops being a surprise.
How City of Riverside compares across California
Run the same three-bedroom house with central air through its default plan at each of the 5 California utilities we cover, and City of Riverside is the cheapest of the lot at about $1,672 a year; the state median is $3,505. The dearest, Southern California Edison, charges $4,157 for identical use — a gap set by the address, not by anything either household did.
The other two households tell the same story in different sizes: a small apartment pays about $889 here against a state median of $1,831, and the same house with an electric car charging overnight about $2,067 against $4,886. Effective rate, fixed charge included, is 17.7¢ per kilowatt-hour for the family home.
Every California utility we cover, priced for the same three households →
When are City of Riverside’s peak hours?
City of Riverside’s peak hours are 2pm–7pm, June–September. Everything outside those hours is off-peak, apart from a mid-priced shoulder period.
At peak, Domestic TOU Service - Medium Residence charges 19.9¢ a kWh; off-peak it is 10.8¢ — 1.8× apart. These hours only matter on a time-of-use plan — the standard plan charges one rate at every hour.
On Domestic TOU Service - Medium Residence, every kilowatt-hour a day you move from 2pm to midnight is worth about $33 a year in the month the gap is widest — an electric car or a water heater on a timer is the kind of load that actually moves. When to charge an electric car →
Before you switch anything
- What is a time-of-use electricity rate?
The same kilowatt-hour, priced differently depending on when you use it.
- Should you switch to a time-of-use electricity plan?
A wide peak-to-off-peak gap is a lever, not a saving. Levers need something to move.
- How to compare electricity plans without getting it wrong
Six things that break a comparison, and the order to check them in.
Domestic TOU Service - Medium Residence
The only residential plan City of Riverside currently files that we can price — everything about it is on this page.
When does peak hit on City of Riverside - (CA)’s Domestic TOU Service - Medium Residence? Peak hits 2pm–7pm every day, all year.
- peak19.90¢
- mid12.94¢
- off-peak10.83¢
What does Domestic TOU Service - Medium Residence cost a year?
| Household | Uses | A month | Per year | Works out to |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apartment One or two people, no central air, no electric heat | 4,866 kWh | $74 | $889 | 18.3¢ / kWh |
| Family home Three or four people with central air conditioning | 9,453 kWh | $139 | $1,672 | 17.7¢ / kWh |
| Home with an EV Same house, plus an electric car charging overnight | 13,103 kWh | $172 | $2,067 | 15.8¢ / kWh |
Estimates, not quotes. We run three made-up but realistic households through this tariff hour by hour for a full year — including the way air conditioning loads the afternoon and an EV loads the small hours. Your own bill depends on when you actually use electricity, which is exactly the thing a per-kWh number hides.
What you actually pay
| Period | Rate | Applies when |
|---|---|---|
| peak | 19.90¢ up to 330 kWh31.84¢ | 2pm–7pm, June–September |
| mid | 14.93¢ up to 135 kWh23.88¢ | 4pm–9pm, October–May |
| mid | 12.94¢ up to 550 kWh20.69¢ | 6am–2pm, 7pm–11pm, June–September |
| mid | 11.94¢ up to 250 kWh19.11¢ | 6am–4pm, 9pm–11pm, October–May |
| off-peak | 10.83¢ up to 220 kWh10.83¢ | 11pm–6am, June–September |
| off-peak | 10.83¢ up to 115 kWh10.83¢ | 11pm–6am, October–May |
Plus a fixed charge of $20 per month.
Should you be on Domestic TOU Service - Medium Residence?
This is a time-of-use plan, which means the clock decides your bill as much as the meter does. At the worst hour you pay 19.9¢ a kWh; at the best hour, 10.8¢ — 1.8× apart for identical electricity.
That gap is worth real money only if you can move load into it. Every kilowatt-hour a day you shift from 2pm to midnight is about $33 a year. A dishwasher run is roughly 1.5 kWh; an EV commute charge is 8 to 12. If your day is fixed — you are home in the evening and the air conditioner runs when it runs — a plan like this costs you more, not less.
There is a usage cliff to watch. The first 250 kWh each month are billed at 11.9¢; past that line the rate steps up to 19.1¢ — 60% more for every unit after. The last kilowatt-hour of a heavy month is the expensive one, which is why cutting a little off a big month saves more than cutting the same amount off a small one.
Before a single kilowatt-hour moves, this plan charges $240 a year in fixed fees. On the apartment above that is 27% of the whole bill; on the house with a car charging in it, 12%. Fixed charges are invisible in a cents-per-kWh comparison and they punish small users hardest — if you use very little electricity, the headline rate is the least important number on this page.
Expect the bill to move with the calendar. The same family home costs about $194 in July and $105 in February — a $89 spread driven by heating and cooling far more than by anything you chose. Budget against the July figure, not the average, and a summer bill stops being a surprise.
Who can be on City of Riverside’s Domestic TOU Service - Medium Residence?
Eligibility is not our judgement — it is written into the tariff City of Riverside filed. This is what that document says:
* Applicability:Medium Residence (101-200 Amp) Applicable to qualified Single-Family Dwelling Units devoted primarily to domestic purposes where services may include lighting, appliances, heating, cooking, power consuming appliances, and Electric Vehicles. This schedule is not applicable to Customers receiving service under Schedule EV
Quoted from the filed tariff. Your utility decides eligibility, not us; check with them before you switch.
If this is new to you
- Tiered billing for electricity: why the last kWh costs more
A cheap allowance, then a cliff. Where the cliff sits is the whole game.
- When is electricity cheapest? Off-peak hours explained
Overnight, usually. All weekend, often. The exact hours are in your tariff, not in a rule of thumb.
- Should you switch to a time-of-use electricity plan?
A wide peak-to-off-peak gap is a lever, not a saving. Levers need something to move.
- When should you charge an electric car at home?
The single biggest load most homes can move, and the easiest to automate.
Where this comes from
- Effective
- 2024-01-01
the date this tariff took effect
- Covers
- delivery + supply
the ZIP-code service map lists this territory as bundled, so the utility sells delivery and supply together
- Enrollment
- open to new customers