Possible PG&E rate hikes prompt protests from different organizations
It's beginning to get colder, which means people are raising thermostats, and if PG&E gets its way, energy bills are likely to go up more.
Bills have already risen 38% over the last three years. According to the Public Advocate Office for the state Public Utilities Commission. So, that is three times higher than the rate of inflation, and they are set to go up even more.
The California Public Utilities Commission is set to weigh three proposals for rate hikes, ranging from 9% to 26%. So, what is the main difference between these three proposals?
The higher the rate hike is the more money PG&E gets to bury power lines. The goal is to eventually bury 10,000 miles of power lines across the state to reduce the risk of wildfires. As of today, only about 300 miles have been completed.
With higher bills on the horizon, calls are getting louder for more transparency. Dozens of people representing various organizations showed up to at the CPUC building in San Francisco on Wednesday to demand more transparency and accountability for PG&E.
"We want to know where the money is coming from and how much they're spending and we deserve to know," said Sam Liccardo.
He's the former mayor of San Jose and is now involved with the newly formed group called FAIR. It's an umbrella organization representing housing advocates, business leaders, labor unions and environmental groups.
They are all coming together to push back against PG&E.
Liccardo said PG&E is such a massive political force and that it's been able to push through rate increases without being transparent about where and how the money is being spent. They said that hurts ratepayers including small businesses.
"I'm paying about $1,000 per month between both stores in electricity," said Lucas Schulte.
He and his wife, Wendy, own Good Common Sense Naturals. They make and sell organic body and bath products.
Schulte worries not only about how a rate hike will impact their business but about the impact to their customers as well.
"Electric bill goes up for us, it's not just going to go up for us. It's going to go up for the consumer too, which means they're going to have less money to come in the store. Plus we're charging more because the electricity is more. It's basically a double whammie," said Schulte.
They have two shop locations — one in Pleasanton and one in Danville. He said the Danville store has been forced to close more than half a dozen times due to unexpected and unexplained power outages, often on weekends, their busiest days.
"I was very tempted to try to figure out how to tell PG&E that, 'Hey, you owe me. I'm taking this out of my bill, the percentage of profit that I lost,'" said Schulte.
In a statement, PG&E defended the proposed rate increases saying, "PG&E recognizes our responsibility to serve our customers safely and reliably, and we are aggressively focused on how to deliver work safely at a lower cost. We prioritize safety above all else. Undergrounding powerlines in the highest fire-risk areas will make our hometowns and California safer, improve electric reliability, and save customers billions of dollars in avoided annual tree trimming and overhead line maintenance costs. Investing in our system to make it more climate-resilient and decarbonized will make it safer and cleaner. We are working to keep customer cost increases at or below assumed inflation, between 2 and 4% a year. Actions we've taken to reduce costs include working with customer advocates on an alternative to commercial insurance saving customers up to $1.8 billion over the next four years, and accessing non-traditional funding sources like federal grants and loans to speed up safety work at a lower cost to customers."
The CPUC was supposed to make a decision on Thursday, Nov. 2 about the proposed rate hikes, but announced late Wednesday that commissioners need two more weeks to weight all the options.