PG&E Increasing Rates

Sonora, CA — Electricity rates will go up at the start of the new-year for PG&E customers.

The utility announced yesterday that residential electric rates will increase by 2.4 percent starting Sunday, and residential gas rates will go up by 1.8 percent.

“These revenues help us serve customers by reducing the frequency of electrical outages, improving the responsiveness of our call centers, providing more convenient services, and above all, continuing to upgrade the safety of our system,” claims Tom Bottorff, PG&E VP of Regulatory Relations. “Although electric and gas rates fluctuate from year to year, we have managed to keep them below the rate of inflation over the past five years.”

PG&E says the rate hike will help cover the costs of buying energy, investing in new technology and fund programs to help low-income customers.