Understanding Your Bill

Utility bills can be confusing, but Clean Power Alliance strives to keep it simple. Southern California Edison (SCE) sends your monthly bill, which includes your SCE charges for electricity delivery followed by your Clean Power Alliance charges for electricity supply/generation.

Note that Clean Power Alliance is NOT an added fee; it simply replaces SCE’s supply/generation charges.

1

Customer Account
Your SCE-assigned customer account number identifies your account. Please have your customer account number on hand if you would like to make changes to your Clean Power Alliance service.

2

Summary of your billing detail
The first line in this section lists your total delivery charges from SCE. The second line lists your total generation charges from CPA. SCE assigns a separate service account number to track your CPA charges but these are NOT added fees – they simply replace supply/generation charges you previously received from SCE.

3

Electricity usage
The amount of energy you used in the billing period, measured in kilowatt-hours (kWh). Your energy usage may change significantly from month to month and year to year depending on weather, appliance use, and other factors. Increased usage is often the reason for larger bills. If you get a larger than normal bill, you can check your usage here (also check usage tiers, #7 below).

4

Your rate (SCE)
In this section, “Your rate” refers to the SCE rate schedule that determines how you are charged for the delivery of electricity. The most common residential rate schedule is DOMESTIC.

5

Delivery charges (SCE)
SCE’s charges for the delivery of electricity. They include the cost of moving energy from the grid to your home or business and maintaining the electric lines, are paid by all electricity customers, and are exactly the same even if you get your supply/generation from CPA. Prices may vary by season (Winter and Summer). Around June and October, your bill may reflect usage and charges for both the end of one season and the beginning of the next.

6

CCA (Community Choice Aggregation) cost responsibility surcharge
These charges are paid by all electricity customers but they are itemized differently on your bill as a CPA customer. The DWR Bond Charge¹ and CTC (Competition Transition Charge)² are legacy charges related to the cost of deregulation of the California electricity system in the late 1990s and early 2000s. The PCIA, or Power Charge Indifference Adjustment³, reimburses SCE for above-market energy contracts SCE entered into in the past to serve its customers, including those now served by CPA. SCE receives these funds. CPA discounts its generation rates to account for the PCIA to keep our customers’ total bills competitive with SCE. Learn more about CPA rate options at cleanpoweralliance.org/residential-rates/

7

Usage Tiers
For residential customers who are not on Time of Use (TOU) rates, this section indicates how much energy you used during the billing period at each rate tier for your SCE delivery charges. The tier levels are set by state law. Usage under Tier 2 and High Usage are charged at higher prices, which is another reason that high usage can result in an unusually high bill. CPA keeps things simple with with flat generation rates that do not vary by usage tier.

8

Your rate (CPA)
In this section, “Your rate” is the CPA rate schedule that determines how you are charged for electricity supply/generation. If you are on a Time of Use (TOU) rate, the seasons and TOU periods for your CPA generation charges and your SCE delivery charges are identical.

9

Generation charges (CPA)
CPA’s charge for the generation of electricity. This is NOT an additional charge. It replaces the generation charges that SCE would be collecting if it were your supply/generation provider. This section notes the CPA rate option currently selected for your account: Lean Power (36% renewable), Clean Power (50% renewable), or 100% Green Power (100% renewable).

10

Energy Surcharge
This surcharge is collected from all electricity customers statewide to fund clean energy programs and projects including the activities of the California Energy Commission.

Notes
1. The DWR (Department of Water Resources) Bond Charge is a legacy charge to pay off bonds that were issued to rescue the California electricity system from the 2000-2001 energy crisis. It was set to expire in 2021 but was extended for another 15 years to establish a wildfire liability fund that Investor Owned Utilities like Southern California Edison (SCE) can draw upon in the event of a catastrophic event. This charge has been part of SCE customer bills since before Clean Power Alliance. The charges go to the State of California for potential disbursement to the Investor Owned Utilities if necessary.

2. The CTC (Competition Transition Charge) is a legacy charge related to electricity sector deregulation in the late 1990s. This charge provides an accelerated recovery of Investor Owned Utility investments made prior to deregulation. This charge has been part of SCE customer bills since before Clean Power Alliance. These charges go to SCE.

3. Although it is sometimes referred to as an “exit fee,” the PCIA (Power Charge Indifference Adjustment) collects funds to cover above-market energy contract costs that are paid for by all electricity customers, not just those who switched to a Community Choice Aggregator like CPA. These above-market costs are embedded in SCE’s generation rates for bundled SCE customers; starting next year these costs will be itemized for all customers, regardless of who is your energy supplier. These charges go to SCE.