Picture two houses a few miles apart, one in Santa Clara and one in Sunnyvale, each using 400 kilowatt-hours of electricity in a month. In Santa Clara, Silicon Valley Power's standard residential schedule for 2026 works out to about $71.88 for that month before a separate state surcharge. In Sunnyvale, PG&E has delivered power since March 2026 under a rate design with a $24 monthly Base Services Charge for most customers, and that charge is billed before a single light switch is flipped.
The electric bill rarely shows up in a home comparison, and in Santa Clara it is shaped by the city's own utility. The city owns its electric utility, and that utility gets almost all of its revenue from industrial customers, most visibly the data centers. Low residential rates follow from that customer mix. City Hall does not grant them as a perk.
The two rate sheets, line by line
Silicon Valley Power's Schedule D-1 took effect January 1, 2026, after the City Council approved a 4% adjustment on December 16, 2025. PG&E's current residential prices took effect March 1, 2026.
| Charge | Silicon Valley Power, D-1 standard | PG&E, E-1 tiered |
|---|---|---|
| Fixed monthly charge | $5.11 meter charge | $24 Base Services Charge for most customers |
| Lower usage block | 15.612¢ per kWh, first 300 kWh | About 33¢ per kWh, up to baseline allocation |
| Higher usage block | 17.946¢ per kWh above 300 kWh | About 41¢ per kWh above baseline |
| Add-ons named on the sheet | 2.85% Public Benefits Charge, plus a state surcharge | Rounded rates that exclude some fees, taxes and surcharges |
PG&E says the Base Services Charge is a restructuring and not a new fee, because per-kWh prices came down to offset it. Even after that offset, PG&E's per-kWh price is roughly twice SVP's in each usage block.
Neighboring cities buy their generation from community choice programs, but that does not close the gap. Those programs replace only the generation portion of the bill, and PG&E still charges for delivery. San José Clean Energy's GreenSource generation rate is 7.928¢ per kWh as of March 1, 2026, with PG&E delivery and other charges billed on top. San José Clean Energy's own sample for a 400 kWh month on PG&E's E-TOU-C time-of-use plan comes to $159.98. That sample uses a different rate plan from the $71.88 Santa Clara figure, so the two are not a precise match. Still, the distance between them is large.
The time-of-use details differ too. SVP's TOU peak runs Monday through Saturday, 6 a.m. to 10 p.m., at 17.960¢ for the first 300 kWh and 20.295¢ above that. Off-peak is 13.690¢ and 16.023¢. SVP's peak window is long, but even its peak price stays close to its standard rate.
Residents are a small share of SVP's revenue
The rate sheet only shows prices. The reason SVP can charge so little shows up in a July 2026 financing report to the City Council. According to that report, over 90% of SVP's retail rate revenues come from industrial customers and less than 6% come from residential customers.
A large share of that industrial demand comes from data centers. Silicon Valley Voice reported in May 2026 that data centers consume 60% of SVP's electricity and generate 13% of Santa Clara's general fund revenue. In an October 2026 news release, the city explained how that helps households. Large customers pay for the electricity they use, and their around-the-clock demand "spreads fixed system costs across more sales, helping keep Santa Clara's electric rates 33% to 57% below neighboring utilities."
The mechanism is simple. A utility's poles, substations and crews cost about the same whether the lines carry a little power or a lot. A data center draws power at 3 a.m. on a Sunday as steadily as at 3 p.m. on a Tuesday. That steady demand spreads the utility's fixed costs over a very large number of kilowatt-hours, and residential customers pay a lower price as a result.
The same customers also help fund the city budget. Santa Clara transfers 5% of SVP revenues to its general fund, and voters affirmed that transfer by approving Measure G in November 2022. City staff estimate that data centers accounted for $23.2 million, or 52%, of the $45 million transfer in fiscal year 2025/26.
SVP's "57% lower" compares rates from different dates
SVP publishes its own comparison on its rates and fees page. It lists an average residential rate of $0.182 per kWh for SVP against $0.422 for PG&E, which makes SVP 57% lower. The SVP figure took effect January 1, 2026. The PG&E figure took effect September 1, 2025. The same page notes that the comparison leaves out the user tax most PG&E jurisdictions add, typically 5%, which Santa Clara customers do not pay.
PG&E's rates have changed twice since that September benchmark. PG&E's January 1, 2026 rate advisory put the average bundled residential rate at 41.46¢ and a typical 500 kWh non-CARE bill at $208.68. In March came the Base Services Charge restructuring. The 57% figure is SVP's own comparison, built on rates from two different dates. The city's broader range of 33% to 57% below neighboring utilities is the more careful way to put it, and both ends of that range are wide.
The next round of costs, and who pays them
On October 16, SVP announced that the City Council will consider a proposed 2% rate increase on November 17, 2026. If it is approved, the increase would take effect in January 2027. SVP cites materials and construction costs, critical infrastructure work and financial reserves, and says its rates would remain among the lowest in California for utilities serving more than 10,000 customers. Until the council votes, the 2% is only a proposal. It would also be half the size of the 4% increase that took effect this January.
The infrastructure is the larger issue. The July 2026 council financing report estimates $479.0 million to rebuild three receiving stations and improve a 230-kV transmission line:
- Northern Receiving Station: $148.5 million, completion expected June 2028
- Scott Receiving Station: $107.4 million, completion expected March 2029
- Kifer Receiving Station: $113.8 million, completion expected June 2029
- New 230-kV line improvements: $109.3 million, design contract planned for mid-2027, with most spending in fiscal year 2029/30
The same report lists the funding to date. That includes $130.0 million in first-tranche debt, $31.0 million in Load Development Fees and $12.4 million in customer service charges, which leaves $305.6 million to be debt-funded. As of May 2026, about $42 million of the first tranche had been spent, and most spending on the three stations was expected in late 2026 and early 2027.
The city describes the cost split in two ways, and readers comparing cities should read both. The city's October news release says large customers pay, through the Load Development Fee, for the upgrades their added demand requires, and that "residents do not pay for infrastructure built to serve that growth." The July financing report says project debt service is funded from Electric Enterprise revenues collected from all customers, and that non-residential customers, including data centers, pay 95% of the credit-agreement costs. Taken together, these say that residents' bills go into the same revenue pool that repays the debt, but that residents carry only a small share of it because they make up a small share of the revenue.
Growth is also capped for now. SVP has not accepted new data-center applications since 2023. City Manager Jovan Grogan said in the same release that the pause remains in effect while the city revamps its review process. The October 6 staff report counts 56 data centers active or under construction, two approved but not yet built, and eight pipeline projects that have completed System Impact Studies. SVP is also testing ways to get more out of the grid it already has. Silicon Valley Voice reported on a pilot at an Nvidia data center that uses Emerald AI's Conductor platform to shift or delay computing tasks and reduce power draw in real time. SVP Electric Utility Director Nico Procos said the project began more than six months before that May report.
Factoring the utility into a Santa Clara comparison
For a buyer choosing between a Santa Clara address and one in Sunnyvale, San Jose or Cupertino, the electric bill is a recurring cost that the asking price does not show. The useful question is how long the advantage is likely to last, not just how large it is today. On the evidence so far, it rests on structure. Industrial customers dominate SVP's revenue. The council is weighing a smaller increase than last year's. The biggest capital program is financed over time, and non-residential customers bear most of it. The open questions are timing and scale. The receiving stations come online between 2028 and 2029, the transmission line follows after that, and the city has not yet said how it will handle future data-center applications.
Households with an electric vehicle, a heat pump or an all-electric kitchen get more out of a low per-kWh price, because they buy more kilowatt-hours. For them, the gap in the rate table matters more each month.
Quick answers
Is the 2% SVP increase final? No. The City Council takes it up on November 17, 2026. If it is approved, it would take effect in January 2027.
Do Santa Clara homes get San José Clean Energy or Silicon Valley Clean Energy? Those programs supply generation to customers whose power PG&E delivers. Santa Clara homes metered by Silicon Valley Power are served under SVP's own D-1 schedule.
Does SVP have its own solar rules? Yes. SVP runs a separate Net Energy Metering schedule, Schedule NM, for customers who generate their own power on site.
Rates here come from each utility's published schedules. Confirm a specific address's service and plan with the utility before relying on any figure.
If you are weighing a Santa Clara home against one across the city line and want the full cost of owning each, Rob Godar & Associates can walk through both with you. That includes what each home will likely cost to run, not just the asking price. Start with a free home valuation, and we'll take it from there.
