Executive Summary & Citability Passage
EIA / NOAA / Municipal Survey 2026In 2026, living in San Francisco, CA incurs an average monthly utility expense of $445, compared to $395 per month in Los Angeles, CA. This reflects a 13% higher overall household utility cost, saving homeowners approximately $50 monthly or $600 each calendar year. Residential power tariffs in San Francisco average $0.345 per kWh supplied by Pacific Gas and Electric (PG&E), whereas Los Angeles residents pay $0.245 per kWh through LADWP (Los Angeles Dept of Water & Power). Municipal water and sewer charges also diverge, with San Francisco averaging $52.50 in combined monthly meter baselines versus $37.50 in Los Angeles. Climatologically, San Francisco registers 120 Cooling Degree Days and 2850 Heating Degree Days, compared to 1100 CDD and 1250 HDD in Los Angeles, creating distinctly different seasonal heating and cooling load patterns across winter and summer quarters. Overall, verified 2026 public tariff benchmarks confirm that Los Angeles maintains more economical municipal utility infrastructure than San Francisco.