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# The CFE bill: cheap electricity in Mexico, until you hit DAC
- URL: https://settlemexico.com/cfe-bill-mexico/
- Published: 2026-10-09T13:32:37.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-18T19:03:36.000Z
- Description: Household power in Mexico is subsidized up to a limit. Pass it on a 12-month average and CFE moves you to the DAC tariff, which can triple the bill. How the tariffs work, what DAC costs, and how to stay off it.
- Author: Roger Scott
- Tags: Guides

**The short answer:** household electricity in Mexico is cheap until your average use passes a limit, and then it isn't.

CFE, the state electricity company, sells subsidized power to homes in three price blocks. If your average over the last 12 months goes above the limit for your area (250 kWh a month in Mexico City and other temperate places), CFE moves you to the **DAC** high-consumption tariff. Every kWh then costs about 6.56 pesos plus a fixed charge, against 1.14 pesos for the first block on the subsidized tariff. A home using 300 kWh a month pays about 950 pesos on tariff 1 and about 2,450 pesos on DAC. Leaving DAC can take months, because the average is a rolling 12 months.

The CFE bill is the one foreigners most often get wrong, usually because of air-conditioning. This guide explains how the tariffs work, what DAC costs, how to stay off it, and how to read and pay the bill. If you rent, see also [Renting in Mexico as a foreigner](https://settlemexico.com/renting-in-mexico/); if you own, the other yearly bill is [predial, the property tax](https://settlemexico.com/predial-mexico/).

## How CFE prices household electricity

Each locality is on a domestic tariff set by its climate. Places with mild summers, like Mexico City, are on **tariff 1**. Hotter places are on tariffs **1A to 1F**, up to 1F where the average summer temperature is 33°C or more. The hotter the tariff, the bigger the cheap blocks during the summer months. Your bill prints which tariff you're on.

Within a tariff, you pay three prices: a low *básico* price for the first kilowatt-hours, an *intermedio* price for the next ones, and an *excedente* price for everything above. Here is tariff 1 as CFE published it for September 2026:

| Tariff 1 block (per month)     | Price per kWh |
| ------------------------------ | ------------- |
| Básico: first 75 kWh           | 1.136 pesos   |
| Intermedio: next 65 kWh        | 1.381 pesos   |
| Excedente: every kWh after 140 | 4.041 pesos   |

Add 16% IVA (value-added tax) on top. Many municipalities also add a street-lighting charge (*DAP*) to the bill. CFE adjusts the prices every month, so check the current table on its site.

## The DAC trap

DAC stands for *Doméstica de Alto Consumo*, domestic high consumption. CFE's rules for it are short:

- Your **average monthly use** is a moving average of the last 12 months.
- If that average goes above the **high-consumption limit** for your tariff, CFE reclassifies you to DAC. Most people find out from the bill itself.
- You go back to the subsidized tariff once your 12-month average is below the limit again.

| Your tariff | DAC starts above (12-month average) |
| ----------- | ----------------------------------- |
| 1           | 250 kWh a month                     |
| 1A          | 300 kWh                             |
| 1B          | 400 kWh                             |
| 1C          | 850 kWh                             |
| 1D          | 1,000 kWh                           |
| 1E          | 2,000 kWh                           |
| 1F          | 2,500 kWh                           |

On DAC there are no cheap blocks. In September 2026 it cost a fixed 145.85 pesos a month plus, per kWh, 6.557 pesos in the central region, 6.080 in the south and Yucatán peninsula, 5.984 in the north and northeast, 6.143 in the northwest, and more in Baja California during summer.

What that means for a tariff 1 home in central Mexico, per month, including IVA:

| Monthly use | On tariff 1       | On DAC            |
| ----------- | ----------------- | ----------------- |
| 200 kWh     | about 480 pesos   | about 1,690 pesos |
| 300 kWh     | about 950 pesos   | about 2,450 pesos |
| 400 kWh     | about 1,420 pesos | about 3,210 pesos |

Calculated from CFE's September 2026 prices, before any street-lighting charge. On tariff 1 the middle column applies only while your 12-month average stays at or below 250 kWh. Above that, the right-hand column is what you pay, even in a month when you use less.

For scale, the average US home used **865 kWh a month** in 2024, according to the US Energy Information Administration. Live in Mexico City the way you lived at home, with a dryer, an electric water heater and air-conditioning, and you'll pass 250 easily. At 865 kWh, a DAC bill in central Mexico comes to about 6,750 pesos a month.

## How to stay off DAC, or get off it

1. **Before you rent, ask for the last two or three bills.** The tariff is printed on them. The 12-month history belongs to the meter's service, not to you, so a house whose last tenant ran air-conditioning all summer can hand you a DAC bill on day one.
2. **Watch the big loads:** air-conditioning, electric water heaters, clothes dryers, pool pumps and electric stoves. Most Mexican homes heat water and cook with gas, which isn't on the CFE bill.
3. **Check your own bills.** They show your consumption for each recent period, so you can see the average heading toward the limit before you cross it.
4. **If you're on DAC, it takes time to leave.** One low bill doesn't do it; your 12-month average has to fall under the limit.
5. **Solar panels.** CFE offers interconnection contracts for homes with their own panels, which is how many owners in hot cities keep their net consumption under the limit. Mérida, where air-conditioning runs much of the year (see [Mérida vs Querétaro](https://settlemexico.com/merida-vs-queretaro/)), even gives a predial discount for them.

## Reading the bill

A residential CFE bill (*recibo*) usually covers two months. The things to find on it:

- **Número de servicio:** the 12-digit account number. You need it to pay online or in a shop.
- **Tarifa:** 1, 1A to 1F, or DAC.
- **Periodo facturado** and **consumo:** the dates covered and the kWh used, with a history of earlier periods.
- **Total a pagar** and the **fecha límite de pago** (due date). After the due date CFE can cut the supply (*corte*), and reconnection costs extra.

The account stays in the owner's name (the *titular*). If you rent, you'll usually pay the bill on the landlord's account, which is normal. Put that arrangement in the lease.

## Paying it

With the service number you can pay on CFE's website or in the CFE Contigo app, at bank branches and apps, and in convenience stores such as OXXO. Keep the receipt or a screenshot. A recent CFE bill is also the standard proof of address (*comprobante de domicilio*) in Mexico, for banks and government offices, so keep the paper bills too.

## Frequently asked questions

### Why did my CFE bill suddenly triple?

Almost always because your 12-month average passed your tariff's high-consumption limit and you were moved to DAC. The bill will say "DAC" where the tariff is printed.

### Does it help to switch off the air-conditioning for one month?

It helps that month's bill, but you only leave DAC once the 12-month average is below the limit. That usually takes several months of lower use.

### Is electricity cheap in Mexico?

On the subsidized tariffs, for modest use, yes: about 480 pesos a month for 200 kWh on tariff 1\. On DAC it costs more per kWh than in much of the US.

## Sources

- CFE, [Tariff 1](https://app.cfe.mx/Aplicaciones/CCFE/Tarifas/TarifasCRECasa/Tarifas/Tarifa1.aspx?ref=settlemexico.com) (prices for September 2026) and the tariffs [1A](https://app.cfe.mx/Aplicaciones/CCFE/Tarifas/TarifasCRECasa/Tarifas/Tarifa1A.aspx?ref=settlemexico.com) to [1F](https://app.cfe.mx/Aplicaciones/CCFE/Tarifas/TarifasCRECasa/Tarifas/Tarifa1F.aspx?ref=settlemexico.com) (temperature criteria).
- CFE, [DAC tariff](https://app.cfe.mx/Aplicaciones/CCFE/Tarifas/TarifasCRECasa/Tarifas/TarifaDAC.aspx?ref=settlemexico.com): high-consumption limits, the 12-month moving average, the return to the subsidized tariff, and DAC prices by region for September 2026.
- US Energy Information Administration, [average residential consumption in 2024](https://www.eia.gov/todayinenergy/detail.php?id=65244&ref=settlemexico.com) (865 kWh a month).
- Mérida's 2026 predial discount for solar panels: [Diario de Yucatán](https://www.yucatan.com.mx/merida/2026/01/09/predial-en-merida-2026-descuentos-por-tener-paneles-solares-o-techos-verdes.html?ref=settlemexico.com).

Last checked October 9, 2026, against CFE's published tariffs for September 2026\. CFE changes prices monthly. If your bill doesn't match what's described here, please [tell me](mailto:hello@settlemexico.com).

![Roger Scott](https://settlemexico.com/content/images/2026/10/roger-scott.jpeg) 

Written by Roger Scott

I went through Mexican residency myself, and I write these guides from primary sources: the law, the government agency, the official page. I also run [ResidencyMexico](https://residencymexico.com/?utm%5Fsource=settlemexico&utm%5Fmedium=web&utm%5Fcampaign=author-box), which helps people through the residency paperwork. [More about me, and how facts are checked](https://settlemexico.com/about/).