Who Supplies Electricity in Your Silicon Valley City?

Move a few blocks across a city line here and your electric company can change. In most of the area, PG&E delivers the power over its poles and wires while a local community program supplies it. Two cities run their own electric utilities instead. Here’s who supplies electricity where, according to each provider.

Cities with their own utility

• Palo Alto: City of Palo Alto Utilities. The city provides electricity, natural gas, water, wastewater collection and fiber.
• Santa Clara: Silicon Valley Power. The City of Santa Clara’s own electric utility, in business since 1896.

Community programs, delivered by PG&E

• San Jose: San Jose Clean Energy. A City of San Jose program. PG&E delivers the power and handles billing, maintenance and outages, so customers get one PG&E bill.
• Twelve other Santa Clara County cities: Silicon Valley Clean Energy. Campbell, Cupertino, Gilroy, Los Altos, Los Altos Hills, Los Gatos, Milpitas, Monte Sereno, Morgan Hill, Mountain View, Saratoga and Sunnyvale, plus unincorporated Santa Clara County.
• San Mateo County: WestLight Energy. Formerly Peninsula Clean Energy, it’s the community electricity provider for San Mateo County. PG&E delivers the power, and customers get one PG&E bill.
• San Francisco: CleanPowerSF. Run by the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission. PG&E delivers and bills, and customers are enrolled automatically with the option to opt out. Some San Francisco addresses get power from the SFPUC’s Hetch Hetchy Power instead.

What it means when you buy

• Ask for a year of bills. Rates and plans differ by provider, so the seller’s last 12 months of bills tell you more than an average.
• Check before you add solar or an EV charger. Rate plans, and some solar and EV programs, depend on which provider serves the address, so check its pages for the house you’re buying. Our Solar Lab covers owned, leased and power-purchase systems.
• In Palo Alto, more of your bills come from the city. Gas, water and fiber can come from City of Palo Alto Utilities too.
• Confirm the jurisdiction. A mailing address can name a neighboring city. The provider follows the actual city or county the home is in.

Compare cities

Our City Match-Up lists the electricity provider for any two of the 32 cities we cover, next to live prices, trains and transfer tax. Moving here from out of the area? The Relocation Lab lays out your first-year dates and bills.

Questions about a specific house? Call the Boyenga Team at (408) 373-1660 or (650) 383-8606. Commissions are negotiable, and we offer bundled services, so ask us what’s included.