Public power is cheaper – much cheaper. A rate comparison

FEELING POOR? That's because you're still paying PG&E for your power. Here's how your bills compare with five California cities that have public power.

Monthly bill for a residential customer using 500 kwh a month (figures do not include state or local taxes, which vary by jurisdiction)

Pacific Gas and Electric Co. (Bay Area): $74.55

Alameda Power and Telecom: $59.41

Silicon Valley Power (Santa Clara): $36.45

City of Palo Alto: $36.28

Los Angeles Department of Water and Power: $52.17

Sacramento Municipal Utility District: $46.60

Monthly bill for a small commercial customer using 1,000 kwh a month (figures do not include state or local taxes, which vary by jurisdiction)

Pacific Gas and Electric Co. (Bay Area): $202.52

Alameda Power and Telecom: $122.58

Silicon Valley Power (Santa Clara): $118.62

City of Palo Alto: $92.81

Los Angeles Department of Water and Power: $112.18

Sacramento Municipal Utility District: $105.69

These charts show that residential and small-business electricity customers of three major Bay Area public power agencies (Alameda, Palo Alto, and Santa Clara) and those in the two largest public power cities in California (Sacramento and Los Angeles) pay much less than local PG&E customers. Residential rates for households using 500 kwh each month are 20 percent to a stunning 51 percent less (in the cases of Palo Alto and Silicon Valley) than PG&E's. And commercial rates for small businesses using 1, 000 kwh monthly range from 29 percent to 54 percent less than PG&E's.

How do they do it? They don't have to pay shareholders, for one thing. And they don't have to cover those hefty million-dollar CEO salaries PG&E is famous for. But another key to keeping rates down is that public power agencies have a philosophical commitment to the local community. Instead of continuously lobbying state and federal officials to roll back decades of carefully written regulations (as PG&E does), public power agencies are generally looking for ways to keep rates stable and low. If they don't, voters can remove directors from their posts and hold them accountable at regular public meetings, which are subject to open government laws. That's a big part of why public power rates are generally 20 percent lower than private power rates across the country.

Data source: Alameda and PG&E residential figures from Alameda. SMUD, LADWP, and PG&E commercial figures from LADWP. Palo Alto and Silicon Valley each provided their own figures. (Rachel Brahinsky)