Healdsburg runs its own electric utility. A home on that system pays a posted Tier 1 rate of $0.1702 per kilowatt-hour. A home on PG&E pays a bundled baseline rate of $0.32561. Two houses can share a 95448 mailing address and still pay those different prices. PG&E's own service-area map says it serves "all or portions" of the ZIP codes listed on it. Sonoma LAFCO's municipal service review describes the city's distribution facilities as sitting within city limits.
For a buyer weighing Healdsburg against Windsor or Santa Rosa, the utility serving the meter is part of what you're buying. It never shows up in a median sale price. It does show up on a bill every month after you get the keys.
What a kilowatt-hour costs on each system
The figures below come from each utility's current published tariff. Healdsburg's schedule is printed as effective with the first billing cycle of November 2025 under Resolution 72-2023. PG&E's E-1 sheet took effect June 1, 2026.
| Residential rate | Healdsburg D-1 | PG&E E-1, bundled |
|---|---|---|
| Usage within baseline | $0.1702 per kWh | $0.32561 per kWh |
| Usage above baseline | $0.3035 per kWh | $0.40702 per kWh |
| Monthly fixed charge, standard household | $17.07 single-family, $10.24 multi-family | $0.79343 per day Base Services Charge, about $24.15 a month |
Healdsburg's top tier, the price a household pays once it goes past its baseline, is lower than PG&E's lowest residential tier. Every 100 kilowatt-hours of baseline use costs $17.02 on the city system and $32.56 on PG&E's E-1. A heavy-use month on the city system still costs less per unit than a light-use month on PG&E.
Healdsburg's baseline is 10.2 kWh per billing day in summer and 10.8 in winter. Summer covers May through October billing.
The fixed charge PG&E added in March
Until this year, much of the comparison came down to usage. On March 1, 2026, PG&E put in place a CPUC-approved Base Services Charge. The charge is set by income tier, with monthly amounts of $6.00 for CARE customers, $12.08 for FERA customers or qualifying affordable housing, and $24.15 for everyone else. The E-1 tariff bills it daily, at $0.79343 per day for the standard tier, so the monthly total moves slightly with the length of each billing period.
That charge narrows how much a low-usage household saves per kilowatt-hour, but it doesn't erase the difference. A standard single-family home on Healdsburg's D-1 pays a $17.07 customer charge. The same household on PG&E pays about $24.15 a month before using a single kilowatt-hour. Healdsburg also offers eligible customers a 25% low-income bill discount.
Most homes outside the city's system get a bill with one more layer. Sonoma Clean Power supplies generation for much of the county. Its CleanStart E-1 generation rate is $0.08099 per kWh as of September 1, 2026. PG&E bills transmission and distribution separately. Sonoma Clean Power's billing page explains that its charges appear on the PG&E bill next to PG&E's delivery charges. It also lists the Power Charge Indifference Adjustment and a franchise-fee surcharge as items that apply to customers of community choice providers. A Healdsburg city customer gets one bill from one provider.
Why the gap is smaller than it used to be
In June 2023, Healdsburg's City Council took up a four-year rate plan. The staff report forecast the utility's revenue requirement rising 16% in fiscal 2023-24, 14% in 2024-25, 8% in 2025-26 and 7% in 2026-27, with the actual rate changes varying by customer class. The staff report named the cost drivers as energy and transmission costs, utility undergrounding projects and construction inflation. The plan's last step falls in the current fiscal year, so a buyer comparing homes this winter should expect Healdsburg's posted numbers to move.
The same staff report put the city's rates at 50% below PG&E and Sonoma Clean Power at that time. It projected that the gap would settle at 41% to 46% under the new plan, with community savings of $53 million to $66 million over the four years. When the plan was adopted, the Press Democrat reported that a typical single-family customer using 484 kWh a month would see the bill rise about $11.50, or 15.9%, in November 2023. Those percentages describe 2023. The current tariffs in the table above are the better guide today.
The city is spending money on undergrounding. Its 2026 Wildfire Mitigation Plan budgets $3.9 million for a project that removes about 5,300 feet of overhead high-voltage line and related equipment. Undergrounding was one of the cost drivers the 2023 staff report named. The plan also says the city may de-energize all or part of its own system for public safety. It has no control if PG&E shuts off the transmission line that feeds Healdsburg. A home on the city system still depends on PG&E's transmission line during a shutoff.
Where an all-electric house comes out ahead
The lower rate matters most for homes that use the most electricity. Healdsburg's D-4 Residential All-Electric schedule is for homes where permanently installed electric heat is the primary heat source and there's no natural gas or propane furnace. D-4 charges the same $0.1702 and $0.3035 per kWh as D-1, with the same customer charges. What changes is the baseline. D-4 allows 12.0 kWh per billing day in summer and 12.7 in winter, compared with D-1's 10.2 and 10.8. More of a heat-pump household's winter use stays in the cheaper tier.
That changes how a fixer-upper's numbers look. Inside Healdsburg's system, swapping a gas furnace for a heat pump moves the home onto a schedule with a larger cheap allowance. The city also offers rebates. A City announcement lists new rebates for electric-panel upgrades tied to residential electrification or home EV charging, for residential EV chargers compatible with Optiwatt, and for EV purchases by CARE income-qualified customers. It sends customers to SmartLivingHealdsburg.org for the full list and requirements. The city's FAQ confirms a rebate for heat-pump water heaters. Our earlier comparison of Healdsburg new construction and vintage homes covers the electrification question from the renovation side.
Timing works differently too. Healdsburg's optional E-7 time-of-use schedule sets peak hours from 1:30 to 7:30 p.m., Monday through Saturday. Summer peak and off-peak rates are $0.3886 and $0.2045, and winter rates are $0.3370 and $0.1872, with a $25.61 monthly charge for single-family homes. PG&E's E-TOU-C peak runs from 4 to 9 p.m. every day, with a summer peak rate of $0.52240. An EV charging schedule or a battery program built for one utility's peak window won't line up with the other's.
Solar owners get their own terms on the city system. Excess kilowatt-hours are credited at the applicable rate for the billing period, the account settles every 12 months, and annual net-surplus generation is paid at $0.0888 per kWh. City customers can also add a Green Rate for $0.0257 per kWh.
Checking a specific address before you write an offer
A 95448 address on a listing doesn't tell you which utility serves the home. It takes a few minutes to find out during your contingency period:
- Ask the seller for a recent electric bill. A bill from the City of Healdsburg or from PG&E answers the question right away.
- Call the City's Utility Billing customer service. The City FAQ lists it as the contact for billing and rate questions.
- If the home is on the city system and heats with electricity, confirm whether the account is on D-4 or D-1. The two schedules have different baselines.
- If the home has solar, get the current billing terms in writing. Healdsburg's net-surplus rate and settlement cycle are set in the city's own schedule.
- Put the utility cost into your monthly budget alongside the mortgage. Our mortgage calculator handles the loan side.
A few common questions
Does a Healdsburg city customer avoid PG&E power shutoffs? Not entirely. The city's 2026 Wildfire Mitigation Plan says Healdsburg has no control if PG&E de-energizes the transmission line that serves the city.
Are Healdsburg's rates fixed? No. The plan adopted in 2023 forecast revenue-requirement increases each year through fiscal 2026-27, with 7% in the final year. The City publishes its current schedule on healdsburg.gov.
Do PG&E customers near Healdsburg get any relief on the fixed charge? PG&E's Base Services Charge is $6.00 a month for CARE customers and $12.08 for FERA customers, compared with $24.15 for other households.
This post covers published utility rates for general information and isn't financial advice. Please confirm the rates, programs and solar terms for a specific home directly with the utility serving it.
If you're comparing a home inside Healdsburg's city system with one just outside it, I'm glad to pull the utility details into the same side-by-side as price, taxes and renovation needs, so the monthly numbers you compare are complete. You can reach me through Apryl Lopez, or start with a free home valuation to see where your current home stands.
