Who Provides Utilities in California?

California has no electricity plan-shopping — the utility that holds your territory is your utility — but which one that is swings hard by city: Pacific Gas & Electric Co. and the other big investor-owned utilities cover most of the state, while Los Angeles, Sacramento, Anaheim and Riverside run their own city utilities entirely. Many cities also enroll residents in community-choice programs for the power itself, yet the wires, outages and hookups stay with the territory utility. Your address settles all of it.

Free lookup · electric, gas, water & sewer for any California address

The California electric map — and why it's blurry

Where each electric provider led our address-level sampling. Hover a city for its provider; click through for the full guide. Tap a legend entry to trace one provider across the state.

Each dot is a California city we sampled, shaded by the electric provider that led our results there. The colors bleed on purpose: real utility territories don't follow clean lines, and two homes on the same street can land on different sides of one. Your address is the only reliable answerlook yours up.

The most common providers across 15 California cities

From our address-level sampling of 15 California cities (2026-07-20). "Most common in" counts the cities where that provider was the leading answer.

UtilityProviderMost common in
⚡ Electricity Pacific Gas & Electric Co. San Jose, San Francisco, Fresno, Oakland, Bakersfield, Stockton
SCE Long Beach, Irvine, Santa Ana
SDG&E San Diego, Chula Vista
🔥 Natural gas SoCalGas Los Angeles, Bakersfield, Anaheim, Riverside, Irvine, Santa Ana
Pacific Gas & Electric Co. San Jose, San Francisco, Fresno, Sacramento, Oakland, Stockton
SDG&E San Diego, Chula Vista
💧 Water LADWP Los Angeles
City of San Diego San Diego
San Jose Water San Jose

California's twist: city power programs, but no utility shopping

Newcomers hear "community choice" and assume California shops for electricity like Texas. It doesn't. Your delivery utility is fixed by territory — one of the three big investor-owned utilities across most of the state, or a city-owned utility in Los Angeles, Sacramento, Anaheim and Riverside, where the municipal utility is the whole story and there's nothing to join or switch.

What many California cities DO have is a community choice aggregator: the city or county buys the electricity itself, your territory utility still delivers it, bills you, and restores your outages, and you're enrolled automatically with the option to opt out. It changes where the energy comes from — not who you call, not who connects your service, and not whose name is on the emergency line. Gas is simpler: a separate regulated gas utility serves each region, and plenty of newer homes skip gas entirely.

California utility providers by city

City-by-city breakdowns of who provides electricity, gas, water and sewer:

California utility questions, answered

Who is my electric company in California?

Whichever utility holds your address's territory — an investor-owned utility across most of the state, or a city-owned utility in Los Angeles (LADWP), Sacramento (SMUD), Anaheim and Riverside. There's no choosing between them; territory decides, and it can flip at a city line. Enter your address in the lookup to see exactly who serves your home.

Can I choose my electricity provider in California?

Not the utility itself — California has no retail utility choice. What many cities offer is community-choice aggregation, where your city buys the power and your territory utility delivers it; you're typically enrolled automatically and can opt out. Either way, the utility that holds your address handles delivery, outages and service starts.

Who provides water in California cities?

Usually a city department or a special district, and it changes fast: Oakland is on a regional district, San Jose splits between a private water company and city systems, and Irvine is on a ranch water district. Water is the utility type most likely to surprise you here — check your exact address.

How do I find all the utility providers for a California address?

Use the address lookup on this page. It checks your exact address against utility territory data and returns your electric, gas, water and sewer providers with contact details — more reliable than any city-level list, including this one.

Territory decides — so ask about your exact address

Enter your California address and get the exact electric, gas, water and sewer lineup for your home.

Find my providers

Provider data comes from our address-level utility lookup engine, aggregated from geographically spread sample addresses in each California city. Data refreshed 2026-07-20. Territories vary address by address — always confirm yours with the lookup. Read how we verify provider data.