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Rates & Regulations

San Jose Water's rates are set by an independent third party, the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC). The CPUC's mission is to protect utility customers and ensure the rates charged by all utilities are fair and reasonable. The water rates charged by San Jose Water are based on "cost of service," which means we pass through our operating costs without a markup.

Find information on the new way we calculate your service charge here.

Browse this page for general information on your rates and the regulations that impact them.

RATES 101

Watch this video to learn about where your water comes from, what factors determine your water bill, and the energy, infrastructure, and people power that make it possible to access clean, reliable water 365 days a year.

General Rate Case 2024

General Rate Case 2022-2024

All water companies regulated by the CPUC are required to file a General Rate Case (GRC) every three years to ensure that rates accurately reflect the cost of providing service.

Billing Schedules

The "schedule" refers to the type of service a customer uses. This page shows rates for different schedules.

How To Read Your Bill

This provides an overview of the information located on your billing statement.

Reading Your Meter

Information to help you understand what your meter is telling you.

Rate Information, Cases & FAQs

Learn more about what goes into your water rates, and why water rates have increased.

What’s Water Worth

Find out how we calculate the cost of water.

New Surcharge: May 8, 2023

As of May 8, 2023, customers saw a new surcharge on their bill. This surcharge is for M-WRAM (Monterey-Style Water Revenue Adjustment Mechanism), an account that tracks the revenue received from volume charges.

The surcharge will be $0.3026/CCF. For an average user (11 CCF/month), customers will see an increase of $3.33 per month on their bill. This surcharge will last 12 months and is meant to recover the under-collected balance in the M-WRAM for the period of October 2020 to March 2023. Learn more here.