How to Read Your Electric Bill: kWh, Delivery, Generation and Other Charges

Quick answer: read the bill in three passes

As of October 26, 2026, read an electric bill in three passes: first confirm who and what period it covers, then measure how much electricity the home used, and finally reconcile every charge, credit and balance.

Do not treat the amount due as the current month's electricity cost. It can include a previous balance, payments, deposits, adjustments or non-electric services in addition to current electric charges.

Pass one: confirm the account, address and service period

Match the service address, utility account and meter or service-agreement identifier to the home you intend to review. A mailing address can differ from the service address, and one customer can have more than one active account.

Record the service period start and end dates and count the billed days. Use the actual service period when comparing bills; a longer period can produce a larger total even when daily electricity use is unchanged.

Separate amount due from current electric charges

The account summary commonly combines the previous balance, payments received, current charges and total amount due. Reconcile that arithmetic before analyzing energy use so an unpaid balance or payment timing is not mistaken for a rate or consumption change.

On a combined statement, isolate the electric section from gas, water, sewer or other services. LADWP can bill more than one municipal service, so dividing a combined amount due by electric kWh does not produce a valid electricity rate.

Pass two: verify actual or estimated meter data

Find the meter number, prior and current reads, read dates and any actual or estimated indicator. SCE explains that an estimate may be used when a meter cannot be read and that a later actual read can adjust the account.

LADWP lists inaccessible, inconsistent or defective-meter situations among reasons a read may be estimated. If the billed value does not reconcile with the account history, preserve the statement and ask the utility to explain the read and any correction.

Read a physical meter: a cumulative-kWh worked example

First match the meter number to the bill and identify the same cumulative kWh register on both visits. Hypothetical example, with a multiplier of 1 and no meter replacement or register rollover: 12,400 kWh on October 1 and 13,120 kWh on October 31 gives 720 kWh over 30 days, or 24 kWh per day. The register works like an odometer; it does not reset each month. A reading taken today will not match an older bill's closing date. For a solar account, establish whether the register represents imports, exports or net energy before interpreting its difference as household consumption.

Follow the guide for your utility and meter configuration: LADWP's meter guide, SCE's meter guide, or PWP's meter guide. Digital screen identifiers are not universal. Record the unit and screen identifier with the number; a maximum-demand kW screen is different from cumulative kWh. LADWP notes that displays depend on programming and a meter constant may apply. Ask the utility which register and multiplier support your bill if the display is unclear.

Translate kW and kWh correctly

Kilowatts describe power at a moment; kilowatt-hours describe energy over time. A 1-kW load running for one hour uses 1 kWh, while many smaller devices can add up to the same amount.

Use billed kWh—not only dollars—to compare consumption. Calculate average daily kWh by dividing total billed kWh by billed days, then compare the same season or similar weather before drawing a conclusion.

Read the rate schedule before multiplying

Write down the exact rate schedule, enrolled programs and provider shown for this service period. Current SCE, PG&E, SDG&E and LADWP structures differ, and a plan name can matter as much as total kWh.

For a tiered plan, identify each tier and the usage assigned to it. For a time-of-use plan, reconcile kWh by peak, off-peak, super-off-peak, weekday, weekend and season using the current tariff rather than hours copied from another utility or an older bill.

Pass three: reconcile delivery and generation

Delivery covers the utility's transmission, distribution and related grid service; generation covers the electricity supply. Those are different bill components, not automatically duplicate charges.

A community choice aggregator can provide generation while the investor-owned utility delivers power and issues one consolidated bill. CPUC says the utility collects both parties' charges; count the generation and delivery sections once each and do not add a subtotal to an already-inclusive total.

Identify fixed, minimum and non-usage charges

List charges that do not scale directly with kWh, including any service charge, minimum charge, taxes, public-purpose charge, late fee, deposit or other adjustment. Their names and treatment depend on the provider and tariff.

For SCE residential bills, the Base Services Charge appears in the electric delivery section and is calculated from a daily amount multiplied by billed days. Read the current utility page for the account instead of carrying forward an old monthly figure.

Reconcile credits, discounts and adjustments separately

List each credit and adjustment with its date and sign. California Climate Credits, income-qualified discounts, bill corrections, level-payment reconciliations and other items can change the statement total without changing the home's kWh.

A payment-smoothing program changes when money is collected; it does not by itself reduce electricity use or the underlying tariff charges. Compare actual current charges with the scheduled payment amount and keep any reconciliation balance visible.

Use interval data to check the bill's time buckets

Download hourly or sub-hourly interval data when the account provides it. Sum the intervals for the service period and compare their timing with the bill's time-of-use buckets, allowing for the utility's published measurement and rounding rules.

Interval data can show when the meter recorded energy, but it does not identify a specific appliance by itself. Use it to frame a billing question or a separate home-load investigation, not as proof of one device's consumption.

Treat LADWP, SCE and other providers as distinct

LADWP is a municipal utility with its own residential tiers, time-of-use option and adjustment factors. SCE is an investor-owned utility regulated by CPUC and may bill generation supplied by Clean Power Alliance or another community choice aggregator.

A ZIP code does not prove which utility or generation provider serves a particular address. Use the bill itself and current provider records before applying a rate table, assistance rule or solar-billing explanation.

Keep standard and solar bills in separate worksheets

A solar bill may add imports, exports, delivery charges, generation charges, export credits, non-bypassable charges and a monthly or annual settlement. The labels and timing depend on the provider and tariff vintage.

Record those solar fields separately and use the dedicated provider guide for Net Energy Metering or the Solar Billing Plan. This article teaches document literacy; it does not replace a true-up or export-credit audit.

Use a line-item reconciliation worksheet

Create one row for each billed component: description, quantity, unit, rate, calculated amount and statement amount. For usage charges, multiply the bill's kWh in each tier or time period by that period's rate, then add fixed charges, taxes and adjustments and subtract credits.

Do not force every line into a cents-per-kWh calculation. Flag only the rows that do not reconcile after applying the published tariff, billing days and rounding conventions.

Document a precise question for the utility

Save the complete bill, prior comparable bill, current tariff or rate-plan page, interval export, meter-read status and worksheet. Redact account numbers before sharing copies outside the utility.

Ask one testable question at a time—for example, which meter read supports a quantity, which rate schedule and effective date produced a line, or why an adjustment posted. Request a case number and retain the written explanation.

Bottom line: preserve a one-page bill record

For each statement, record service period, billed days, actual or estimated status, total and average daily kWh, rate schedule, provider, delivery and generation totals, fixed charges, credits, adjustments, previous balance and current electric charges.

That record separates document-reading from diagnosis. If the numbers reconcile but the result is unexpectedly high, continue with the separate high-bill guide; if the account has solar, continue with the matching utility and tariff guide.

Frequently asked questions

Questions worth asking

• What are the three passes for reading an electric bill?
• Is the amount due the same as current electric charges?
• How can I tell whether my meter reading was actual or estimated?
• How do I compare kWh across bills with different service periods?
• Why are delivery and generation listed separately?
• What is a Base Services Charge?
• How should I read an LADWP bill with water or other services?
• Why does a solar electric bill need a separate review?