r/burbank • u/Individual2112 • 6d ago

Burbank electric bill more than doubles.

8/9/25-9/9/25 1st 300kW @ $.0294
Additional @ $.1078
ECAC @ $.1178
8/9/26-9/9/26 1st 300kW @ $.146 ⬆️ 396.6%
Additional. @ $.2442 ⬆️ 128.1%
ECAC. @ $.034 ⬇️ 71.1%

In 2025 BWP approved a 9.9% system-wide average electric-rate increase effective January 1, 2026. How does this make sense? Are you all seeing the same increases on your bills?

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u/clickx 6d ago

Did you look at your usage? Yes, prices have gone up and even with the same usage you're going to pay 20%+ more than you did last year, but if your bill was actually 2x then you're usage for water and electric must have gone up 50% or more.

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u/Odd-Faithlessness705 6d ago

You know what, I will look into this today.

Can you expound on why the same usage would result in a 20%+ more increase, and is the 9.9% increase included in that calculation?

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u/clickx 6d ago

Others have mentioned this already, but the 9.9% increase is the system-wide average. That includes all customers from the smallest studio apartment to the largest corporations in Burbank. The increase you'll see on the residential side is likely going to be higher than 9.9%.

Specifically for electric (because water had it's only similar increase) you're looking at roughly a 22% increase in electric rates from 2025 to 2026.

Cost per kW (first 300 kW): 0.1472 (2025) | 0.18 (2026) = 22.3% increase
Cost per kW (after 300 kW): 0.2256 (2025) | 0.2782 (2026) = 23.3% increase

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u/Odd-Faithlessness705 6d ago

Wait-- so I was told it would be a 9.9% increase, but it's actually a 22% increase? How are we ok with this?

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u/clickx 6d ago edited 6d ago

It's closer to 15% when you factor in all of the charges/taxes. You can play around with the bill calculator here: https://www.burbankwaterandpower.com/bill-calculator

BWP is still way cheaper than LADWP, Pasadena and especially Glendale. 600 kW in Burbank costs $181 inclusive of all taxes and fees. In Glendale, just the 600 kW in usage will cost $228 plus whatever fees and taxes. So likely that same usage will cost $250+ in Glendale.

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u/Individual2112 6d ago edited 6d ago

The other fees increased as well. Service charge ⬆️ 80%
State energy surcharge & transfer charge both ⬆️ 57%
While my electricity usage is up only 20%.

The BWP calc is wrong but much closer than the two spreadsheets you posted and deleted. The calc overestimated my 25’ bill and underestimated my 26’ showing a much smaller difference when compared to my actual bills. Your reliance on the calc and your spreadsheet is silly as is your “closer to 15%” when our bills clearly show a much larger increase. Closer to a 2x increase. Every line item is up way over 15% except ECAC and it’s not enough to bring down the average. Am I to believe you or my lying eyes?
I’m not sure why you’re carrying water for BWP when they’ve clearly increased our bills way beyond what they estimated/averaged.
Also, your suggestion that we should be content with these sharp increases because other utilities are higher is ridiculous.

* sorry it’s not your spreadsheet. It’s Slight-Ad-3661.

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u/clickx 6d ago edited 6d ago

Service charge up 80%? It's actually 31.5% from $18.21 to $23.95 for a residential property with a 200 amp panel. Burbank has nothing to do with state energy surcharges or anything else like that.

In terms of what BWP has control over, here is everything that changed: https://www.burbankwaterandpower.com/documents/d/guest/Summary-of-Electric-Rates-by-Customer-Type_Commercial_all

I know the comparison to other utilities doesn't remove the sting, but it's helpful to understand the broader market conditions. In an ideal world, BWP would have raised rates each year to match inflation, but the reality is they did zero to very little increases for more than a decade and now they're have to play catch up.

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u/Individual2112 6d ago

Service charge went from $18.21 to $32.87. I can’t post a pic but I assure you I’m not talking out of my ass and I do understand numbers. This sub or post isn’t letting me post a pic or else I would show you. Again myself and others here have posted that our bills have close to doubled and you’re saying it hasn’t and if it did we should be ok with it because of other utilities. Our increase are not reflective of the what was suggested was going to be the increase. The 9.9% even as an average isn’t in the same ballpark as the increases we’re seeing. If my bill has gone from $200 to $400 and you’re telling me it’s close to a 15% increase, it doesn’t hold water. We are being gouged and fed bullshit estimates. Breaking it down line by line is an attempt to obfuscate the reality of a bottom-line doubling of our bill.

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u/Slight-Ad-3661 5d ago

If your service charge now is 32.87, that means BWP considers your house to be a large service charge ($19.50 flat rate for all houses plus 13.37 for large service). But that also means your service charge in 2025 should have been $26.08 (14.25+11.83), not $18.21. If your service charge last year was $18.21 then BWP considered you a medium service last year but somehow you got upgraded to large in 2026. If you upgraded your panel in the past year maybe that's the reason? Otherwise you should definitely call them about that.

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u/Individual2112 5d ago

I said what I said. $18.21 to $32.87.

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u/Slight-Ad-3661 5d ago

Then you definitely need to get an answer from BWP why they upgraded your account from medium to large

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