Photo by: BJ Hansen
Sacramento, CA — The California Public Utilities Commission approved a rate hike for PG&E that will increase rates by an average of $5 per month.
PG&E requested the hike as a way to recover costs paid for fire safety and vegetation management projects dating back to 2020.
The new rate increase is on top of a 13% hike that took effect in January, which increased the average bill by about $34 per month. There is also another proposal that is anticipated to go before the CPUC later this year in which PG&E is requesting a $10 hike to help cover expenses from last year’s winter storm damage. All rate increases combined, it would increase monthly bills this year by about $50.
Several people spoke in opposition at Thursday’s CPUC meeting, and many were chanting, “Stop the Hikes.”
PG&E put out a statement arguing that delaying the recovery of costs would negatively impact its ability to secure competitive finance rates and increase the costs of its capital investments.
Written by BJ Hansen.
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