CALIFORNIA, USA — As Californians face higher electric bills with the extreme heat, PG&E customers can expect to pay more.
Thursday, the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) allowed PG&E to increase their funding on expansion projects.
It led to an outcry of comments Thursday as the CPUC agreed to increase PG&E’s funding, funding that comes from the customer.
PG&E said the potential impact to a typical non-CARE customer’s bill from the decision in 2025 is $1.40, 2026 is $2.20, in 2027 is $3.10.
The utility company said the increases are for quicker expansion, so new homes can have energy and to add more charging stations for electric cars.
They released the following statement to ABC10:
"PG&E shares the Commission’s commitment to achieving California’s decarbonization, affordable housing and economic vitality goals. While the Commission’s decision today is a positive step forward and will help us energize more customers faster, there is still much work to do. We want to connect our customers to the grid as quickly as possible and help power Californian’s clean energy future. Additional resources are needed to meet the growing demand. The CPUC’s decision allows us to ask for additional funding for 2025 and 2026, and we will submit additional information in that request."
John Reynolds, the CPUC commissioner, presented the plan.
“We built in a key consumer protection that prohibits PG&E from recovering costs until projects are placed into service and operating,” Reynolds said.
Mark Toney, with the Utility Reform Network, said this increase in funding is on top of existing rate increases from earlier this year. So, while it might not seem like a lot, it all adds up.
“The fault in this rate increase lies squarely with the legislatures who passed a bill that allowed PG&E to collect extra money for work they were already supposed to do and already receive money for,” Toney said.
In order to make sure the funds from bills are used correctly, an independent third-party auditor will be hired to review them.
It's a move former CPUC President Loretta Lynch questions.
“Let’s have them do it first (the project), and then pay instead of overpay based on crazy estimates while the rate payers continue to pay and PG&E continues to profit. The PUC just says how high when PG&E says jump,” Lynch said.
Lynch agrees expansion is important, but the commission should make PG&E cut their budget not just allow them to take more money.
