How many electric cooperatives are in California?

4 electric cooperatives reported bundled retail electricity sales to customers in California in 2024, according to EIA. The largest is Plumas-Sierra Rural Elec Coop, with 7,769 customers.

How many municipal and public power utilities are in California?

47 — 34 municipal utilities, 13 public utility districts — reported bundled retail sales in California in 2024. The largest is Los Angeles Department of Water & Power, with 1,510,995 customers.

How do public power utilities and co-ops in California buy?

Municipal utilities and public utility districts are local government entities, so they generally follow California's public procurement laws, with purchases approved by a city council or utility board. Electric co-ops are private, member-owned nonprofits that set their own purchasing policies, though projects financed through USDA's Rural Utilities Service follow its rules. See how utilities buy.

Where does this data come from?

From the U.S. Energy Information Administration's table "2024 Utility Bundled Retail Sales – Total" (Table 10), based on forms EIA-861 and EIA-861S. It counts customers who buy both electricity and delivery from the utility.

California Public Power & Electric Co-ops: Full List

Key takeaways

51 community-owned utilities: 34 municipal utilities, 13 public utility districts and 4 electric cooperatives reported bundled retail sales in California in 2024.
Together they served 3,467,758 of the state's 9,771,173 bundled retail customers (35%); 6 investor-owned utilities served most of the rest.
The largest public power utility is Los Angeles Department of Water & Power, with 1,510,995 customers.
The largest electric co-op is Plumas-Sierra Rural Elec Coop, with 7,769 customers.

Every public power utility and co-op in California

Ranked by bundled retail customers in 2024, with retail sales in megawatt-hours and average price in cents per kilowatt-hour. Names are as EIA abbreviates them. Filter by type or search.

Showing all 51 utilities

#	Utility	Type	Customers	Sales, MWh	Avg. price
1	Los Angeles Department of Water & Power	Municipal	1,510,995	21,347,075	22.61¢
2	Sacramento Municipal Util Dist	Public utility district	666,235	10,721,201	16.62¢
3	Imperial Irrigation District	Public utility district	164,802	3,645,364	18.11¢
4	Modesto Irrigation District	Public utility district	133,517	2,669,292	17.42¢
5	City of Anaheim	Municipal	123,665	2,138,073	16.71¢
6	City of Riverside	Municipal	113,373	2,141,863	17.57¢
7	Turlock Irrigation District	Public utility district	95,746	2,244,427	14.27¢
8	City of Glendale	Municipal	90,990	982,406	28.32¢
9	City of Roseville	Municipal	70,475	1,181,965	16.99¢
10	City of Pasadena	Municipal	67,059	1,009,506	24.28¢
11	City of Santa Clara	Municipal	59,389	4,700,784	15.41¢
12	City of Burbank Water and Power	Municipal	53,155	942,640	18.40¢
13	City of Redding	Municipal	44,465	764,596	17.90¢
14	Alameda Municipal Power	Municipal	37,226	355,947	21.22¢
15	City of Palo Alto	Municipal	29,833	892,257	17.88¢
16	City of Lodi	Municipal	25,939	459,052	19.66¢
17	City of Colton	Municipal	20,064	334,002	24.86¢
18	City of Azusa	Municipal	17,583	234,019	18.45¢
19	City of Lompoc	Municipal	15,232	128,600	21.94¢
20	Truckee Donner P U D	Public utility district	14,797	168,497	22.32¢
21	City of Banning	Municipal	13,358	145,496	19.37¢
22	Merced Irrigation District	Public utility district	13,140	517,336	18.95¢
23	Lassen Municipal Utility District	Municipal	10,602	126,673	23.51¢
24	City of Moreno Valley	Municipal	8,944	225,498	28.19¢
25	City of Ukiah	Municipal	7,899	105,784	25.61¢
26	Plumas-Sierra Rural Elec Coop	Cooperative	7,769	139,387	22.24¢
27	Trinity Public Utilities Dist	Public utility district	7,291	118,738	9.75¢
28	City of Healdsburg	Municipal	6,157	82,201	19.56¢
29	Anza Electric Coop Inc	Cooperative	4,815	58,194	25.08¢
30	Surprise Valley Electrification	Cooperative	4,727	103,311	12.49¢
31	City of Shasta Lake	Municipal	4,597	194,439	17.47¢
32	Lathrop Irrigation District	Public utility district	4,095	36,044	22.03¢
33	Rancho Cucamonga Municipal Utility	Municipal	3,592	120,181	15.35¢
34	City of Gridley	Municipal	3,180	33,183	21.83¢
35	City of Needles	Municipal	3,040	79,916	17.42¢
36	City & County of San Francisco	Municipal	2,941	953,680	19.19¢
37	City of Corona	Municipal	1,842	82,059	13.40¢
38	City of Vernon	Municipal	1,744	1,035,075	18.78¢
39	City of Biggs	Municipal	842	15,350	18.01¢
40	Kirkwood Meadows PUD	Public utility district	757	7,288	76.01¢
41	Shelter Cove Resort Improvement Dist No. 1	Public utility district	643	3,778	37.17¢
42	Pittsburg Power Company	Municipal	595	22,086	28.96¢
43	City of Industry	Municipal	136	38,779	14.58¢
44	Port of Oakland	Municipal	131	94,989	19.22¢
45	Aha Macav Power Service	Public utility district	116	4,307	10.66¢
46	Port of Stockton	Municipal	95	35,166	15.52¢
47	City of Victorville	Municipal	91	104,630	19.85¢
48	Valley Electric Assn, Inc	Cooperative	44	9,114	11.79¢
49	Tuolumne County Pub Power Agny	Public utility district	33	37,259	18.26¢
50	City of Escondido	Municipal	1	4,155	5.17¢
51	Kings River Conservation Dist	Public utility district	1	450,755	0.80¢

Public power vs. co-ops in California

Public power utilities — municipal utilities, public utility districts and state-owned utilities — are owned by the communities they serve and governed by a city council or elected board. They buy much like local governments: through public bids, board approvals and published budgets.
Electric cooperatives are private, not-for-profit utilities owned by their members, who elect the board. Most buy power from a generation and transmission (G&T) co-op and make purchasing decisions through their own policies, often faster than public agencies.

Both publish their plans: watch board and council agendas, budgets, capital improvement plans and rate filings. Our utility funding tracker and rate case & IRP tracker show where the money is coming from.

Selling to California utilities

Start with the right person. Line, engineering, metering, IT and member-services managers usually define the need; the general manager or CEO and the board approve large purchases.
Use the networks. State public power and cooperative associations, joint action agencies and G&T co-ops shape purchasing and share vendor experiences.
Expect small teams. Many of the utilities on this list have only a handful of staff, so phone outreach and a clear reason to talk matter.

Read our guide to how public power, co-ops and water utilities buy, or see the largest public power utilities and largest electric co-ops nationally.

About this data

Source. EIA's "2024 Utility Bundled Retail Sales – Total" (Table 10), from forms EIA-861 and EIA-861S. Average price is EIA's revenue divided by sales.
Bundled customers only. The table counts customers who buy both energy and delivery from the utility, so it excludes distribution-only utilities and customers who buy energy from another supplier in retail-choice areas.
Community-owned utilities only. This page lists municipal, public utility district, state-owned and cooperative utilities. Investor-owned and federal utilities are left out.

Sources

U.S. Energy Information Administration, 2024 Utility Bundled Retail Sales – Total (Table 10): eia.gov

Public power utilities and electric co-ops in California.