SmartRate™ Plan Details
How does the SmartRate Summer Pricing Plan work?
Shift when you use electricity on SmartDays™ and make a big difference on your summer electricity bills. How much you save is up to you. Here’s how it works:
- Regular days: You receive a discount on your normal electricity rate between June and September.
- SmartDays: There’s a surcharge on your electricity rate from 2 p.m. to 7 p.m. between May and October.
- Savings: Because no more than 15 SmartDays are called each season, you'll be paying the discounted rate the majority of the time. When you shift your energy use effectively between 2 p.m. and 7 p.m. on a SmartDay™, you have an opportunity to end up with a net savings over the summer.
Summer Pricing Plan Details
If a SmartMeter™ has been installed at your home, you may be eligible to sign up for the voluntary SmartRate Summer Pricing Plan.
To find out, call 1-866-743-0263 to speak to a PG&E Customer Service Representative.
Get courtesy notifications of upcoming SmartDays by phone, email or both - the business day prior to the SmartDay.
Receive up to a total of four courtesy notifications (two by email and two by phone). We encourage you to sign up multiple adults in your household to receive notification so that you are prepared when SmartDays are announced. One of the best ways to save energy on SmartDays is to make sure your household knows when to take action.
Keep your notification preferences up to date by calling 1-866-743-0263 to speak with a PG&E Customer Service Representative or update them online now.
On SmartDays, how much you save is up to you. The more you shift your energy use between 2 p.m. and 7 p.m., the more opportunity you’ll have to see savings on your monthly bills during the SmartRate summer season.
Get prepared for upcoming SmartDays by checking out our SmartDay energy and money saving tips page.
Once your account has transitioned to the SmartRate Summer Pricing Plan, start looking for savings on your monthly bills from May through October.
Your PG&E energy statement will show you how much you’re saving. You can also check your SmartMeter™ electricity use data online through My Energy to compare your efforts on SmartDays versus regular days.
For more details on how you can save, go to the tips page.
- Over the first full summer season, if the electricity charges on your Summer Pricing Plan are more than they would have been on your regular residential pricing plan, PG&E will reimburse the difference at the end of the year.
- Each month, you will pay your PG&E energy statement as you normally would.
- At the end of the SmartRate summer season, PG&E will evaluate your monthly savings and surcharges to determine if your participation resulted in overall bill savings.
- If your cumulative costs under the SmartRate Summer Pricing Plan exceed what you would have paid on your regular residential pricing plan, the difference will be reimbursed to you with a credit on your November energy statement.
You can opt out of the SmartRate Summer Pricing Plan at any time and revert to your regular residential pricing plan by calling 1-866-743-0263. Disclaimer (PDF, 13 KB)
What you’ll pay and where you’ll save.
With the Summer Pricing Plan, your savings are calculated by combining the discounted rates you pay between June and September, with the surcharge that is in effect between 2 p.m. and 7 p.m. on SmartDays. Because no more than 15 SmartDays are called each season, you'll be paying the discounted rate the majority of the time. When you effectively manage your energy use on SmartDays, you can end up with a net discount over the summer season.
Summer Pricing Credits and Surcharge
Residential energy charges are calculated by using your previous pricing plan with the following adjustments:
- Summer Pricing Plan customers will receive a credit of $0.02992/kWh for energy usage from June 1 through September 30, with the exception that the credit will not be given for energy usage that occurs from 2 p.m. to 7 p.m. on SmartDays.
- From June 1 through September 30, Summer Pricing Plan participants will receive an extra credit of $0.01/kWh for usage in tiers 3, 4 and 5.
- Summer Pricing Plan participants will be charged a $0.60/kWh surcharge in addition to the regular rate for just five hours (from 2 p.m. to 7 p.m.) on each SmartDay.
Enroll Today
Join the SmartRate Summer Pricing Plan to lower your electric bills.
Follow these easy steps to begin!
1. Log into My Energy.
2. Jump down to Shortcuts and click on the Enroll in SmartRate™ link.
Update Your SmartDay Notification Preferences
Customers who are notified one day prior to a SmartDay have the best opportunity to save on their bills because they have time to prepare.
Receive up to four notifications per household (two by email and two by phone).
Update now >>
Frequently Asked Questions
- Get answers to many common questions about the SmartRate program.
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