Opinion: California’s energy glut, part II

About two weeks before 2024 ended, the California Public Utilities Commission authorized the fifth and sixth rate hikes for PG&E in the twelve-month period. So, this year, ratepayers will face even higher bills than they complained about last year. In an article for KPIX-TV, Steve Large cites Mark Toney, executive director of The Utility Reform Network (TURN), as saying, “People are paying an average of $60 more a month than last year. Right now, we have a broken system that we need to fix; there are no limits to how much PG&E can ask for, no limits to how many times a year.”

The PUC’s rationale for approving PG&E’s request is that the company completed work “in extremely risky parts and its service territory.” PUC Board Member John Reynolds stated, “I can understand the public’s frustration with PG&E rate increases and that could be impulsive to punish a utility for its past failings, but we need them to take action in an emergency situation,” according to Brisa Colón and Kate Nemarich of ABC Action News.

However, Krishna De La Cruz, a PG&E ratepayer, countered, “Raising rates to pay for PG&E’s wildfire and relief — relief that should come out of their profits and not our pockets — is nothing short of a monopoly scheme.” Toney agreed and stated these hikes are due to mismanagement. He said, “In 2020 to 2022, PG&E got a budget for vegetation management, tree trimming, and things like that, and they overspent their budget.”