PG&E Time-of-Use Rates Explained: Which Plan Saves You the Most?
PG&E offers more rate plans than most customers know exist — and the difference between the right plan and the wrong one can be $200–$1,700 per year. Yet 62% of California households are on a suboptimal rate plan, according to industry data.
The problem isn't access. PG&E will let you switch plans anytime. The problem is that understanding what each plan actually charges — and whether it fits your household — requires reading tables of per-kWh rates and comparing them against your specific usage pattern.
This guide breaks down every major residential rate plan PG&E offers, explains the peak/off-peak windows, and tells you which households each plan works best for.
What Is Time-of-Use Pricing?
Traditional flat-rate pricing charges you the same per-kWh rate regardless of when you use electricity. Time-of-use (TOU) pricing charges different rates based on when you use electricity.
The logic: electricity is more expensive to produce and deliver when everyone wants it at the same time (weekday evenings when people get home from work). If you shift usage away from those hours, PG&E passes some of that cost reduction back to you.
For households that can shift their usage — primarily those with EVs, smart appliances, or flexible schedules — TOU plans create real savings. For households with inflexible usage patterns, TOU plans can backfire.
PG&E's Current Residential Rate Plans
E-1: Standard Tiered Rate
Type: Tiered (not time-of-use)
E-1 is PG&E's default residential plan. It doesn't care when you use electricity — only how much. Usage up to your monthly baseline allowance is charged at Tier 1. Everything above that is charged at Tier 2 (currently about 25–35% more expensive).
Current approximate rates (2026):
| Tier | Rate |
|---|---|
| Tier 1 (baseline) | ~$0.32/kWh |
| Tier 2 (above baseline) | ~$0.43/kWh |
Best for: Low-usage households that rarely exceed baseline. Renters without EVs who use modest amounts of electricity.
Watch out: If your usage is consistently high — whether from an EV, AC, or just a large home — Tier 2 adds up fast. A household using 150% of baseline on E-1 is almost certainly overpaying versus a TOU alternative.
E-TOU-C: Time-of-Use (Version C)
Type: Time-of-use with tiered baseline
E-TOU-C is PG&E's most popular TOU plan and where many customers are automatically enrolled. It has peak hours on weekday evenings (4–9 PM) and charges the off-peak rate during all other hours and all weekend hours.
Current approximate rates (2026):
| Period | Rate |
|---|---|
| Peak (4–9 PM weekdays) | ~$0.52/kWh |
| Off-Peak (all other times) | ~$0.28/kWh |
E-TOU-C also includes a tiered baseline adjustment — if your usage is below baseline during off-peak hours, you get a small additional discount.
Best for: Households that use most electricity in the morning, afternoon, or weekends. EV owners who charge overnight. Remote workers who can run appliances during the day.
Watch out: If you reliably run high loads during weekday evenings — cooking dinner, running the AC, charging your EV after commuting — E-TOU-C will cost you more than E-1.
E-TOU-D: Time-of-Use (Version D)
Type: Time-of-use with different peak windows
E-TOU-D is similar to E-TOU-C but shifts the peak/off-peak structure differently, with off-peak rates on weekends all day and peak pricing focused more narrowly on weekday evenings.
Current approximate rates (2026):
| Period | Rate |
|---|---|
| Peak (4–9 PM weekdays) | ~$0.55/kWh |
| Off-Peak (weekdays outside peak) | ~$0.29/kWh |
| Off-Peak (all weekend) | ~$0.25/kWh |
Best for: Households that do most of their heavy usage on weekends — laundry, dishwasher, baking, extended appliance use. Families home on weekends who can take advantage of the lower weekend rates.
Watch out: E-TOU-D's peak rate is slightly higher than E-TOU-C's. If you can't reliably avoid peak hours on weekdays, the penalty is steeper.
EV2-A: Electric Vehicle Rate
Type: Time-of-use with deep overnight discount
EV2-A is designed specifically for electric vehicle owners and has the most aggressive overnight pricing of any PG&E plan. The off-peak overnight window (typically 11 PM–7 AM or 9 PM–9 AM depending on season) is very cheap — ideal for overnight charging. The tradeoff: peak and partial-peak rates during the day are substantially higher.
Current approximate rates (2026):
| Period | Rate |
|---|---|
| Peak (5–8 PM weekdays) | ~$0.65/kWh |
| Partial-Peak (3–5 PM and 8–9 PM weekdays) | ~$0.48/kWh |
| Off-Peak (9 PM–3 PM weekdays, weekends) | ~$0.26/kWh |
| Super Off-Peak (9 PM–9 AM in summer, varies) | ~$0.17/kWh |
Best for: EV owners who charge overnight and can avoid peak hours during the day. Households with battery storage who can discharge during peak hours. This plan rewards strict time-shifting more than any other.
Watch out: EV2-A is the highest-risk plan if your usage patterns are inflexible. A household that charges an EV during peak hours or runs the AC heavily from 5–8 PM will pay a painful premium. The savings are real, but they require real behavior changes.
E-ELEC: All-Electric Rate
Type: Time-of-use with electrification incentives
E-ELEC is designed for all-electric homes — households that use electricity for heating, water heating, and cooking in addition to standard loads. It has lower baseline charges but requires that you have no natural gas service at the property.
Current approximate rates (2026):
| Period | Rate |
|---|---|
| Peak (4–9 PM weekdays) | ~$0.50/kWh |
| Off-Peak (all other times) | ~$0.26/kWh |
E-ELEC offers a higher baseline allowance than other plans, recognizing that all-electric homes have higher electricity loads by design.
Best for: Homes that have converted away from natural gas — induction stoves, heat pump HVAC, heat pump water heaters. If you're using electricity for everything and paying a gas bill on top of it, E-ELEC won't help; you need to eliminate gas service first.
Watch out: The application process requires documentation that your home is fully electric. If you have any active gas appliances, you don't qualify.
How to Choose the Right Plan
The honest answer: there's no universal winner. The right plan depends on when your household uses electricity, not just how much.
Here's a simplified decision framework:
You're probably better on a TOU plan if:
- You have an EV you charge overnight
- You work from home and run appliances during off-peak hours
- You have solar (the interaction with TOU rates can be favorable)
- You can run laundry, dishwasher, and other high-load appliances after 9 PM or before 4 PM
You're probably better on E-1 if:
- You live alone, work standard hours, and cook dinner at home most nights
- Your total usage is modest (close to or below baseline)
- You have no EVs, minimal AC, and no smart appliances
- You genuinely cannot shift usage — overnight shift worker, home with young children, etc.
The EV question is the biggest swing factor. An EV owner who charges overnight saves $600–$1,200/year on EV2-A vs. E-1. An EV owner who charges during peak hours loses $300–$600/year on EV2-A vs. E-1. Same car, opposite outcome.
TOU and Solar: A Special Case
If you have solar panels, the interaction between your rate plan and your NEM program is more complex than the tables above suggest.
On a TOU plan, the electricity your panels export during peak hours is worth more in credits (since the avoided cost rate tracks the time-of-use schedule). But the electricity you import during peak hours costs more. Whether TOU helps or hurts a solar household depends on:
- Your NEM vintage (NEM 2.0 vs NEM 3.0)
- Your panel production curve (south-facing vs. east/west)
- Whether you have battery storage
NEM 3.0 customers on EV2-A with battery storage tend to do very well — they can export during peak hours when export credits are higher and discharge their battery to avoid importing during peak. NEM 3.0 customers without storage and without the ability to shift loads can end up worse than they'd be on E-1.
This is one area where manually comparing plans won't give you the right answer. You need an analysis that combines your actual usage pattern, your solar production curve, your NEM vintage, and the rate structures — simultaneously.
Switching Plans: What to Know
- You can switch anytime through your PG&E online account or by calling customer service
- You can switch back if a new plan doesn't work out — there's no penalty for switching
- PG&E's online rate comparison tool gives a rough estimate but uses simplified assumptions; it doesn't account for your specific appliance mix, solar configuration, or time-shifted loads
- Changes take effect at the start of your next billing cycle, not immediately
The Fastest Way to Find Your Best Plan
Comparing rate plans manually requires pulling 12 months of hourly usage data (available in your PG&E account as a CSV), mapping it against each plan's rate structure, and running the math. That's several hours of work for a non-engineer.
BrightBill does this in under 3 minutes. Upload your PG&E bill and get:
- Your current plan's annual cost based on real usage
- What you'd pay on every available plan with the same usage pattern
- A recommendation based on your actual household situation (EV, solar, usage timing)
- Any billing errors or missed discounts that might be inflating your bill
The average user finds $340/year in savings — most of it from rate plan mismatches they didn't know about.
Find out which PG&E plan saves you the most →
PG&E Rate Plan Comparison at a Glance
| Plan | Type | Peak Hours | Best For |
|---|---|---|---|
| E-1 | Tiered | None | Low/modest usage, inflexible schedules |
| E-TOU-C | TOU | 4–9 PM weekdays | Night-chargers, remote workers, most households |
| E-TOU-D | TOU | 4–9 PM weekdays | Weekend-heavy households |
| EV2-A | TOU | 5–8 PM weekdays | EV owners who charge overnight |
| E-ELEC | TOU | 4–9 PM weekdays | All-electric homes (no gas service) |
The right plan is one calculation away.
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