SACRAMENTO — Assemblymember Dawn Addis (D-Morro Bay) urged the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) to reject Pacific Gas and Electric Company's request for interim rate relief, in order to prevent additional rate increases for Californians. The request is currently under review by the CPUC.
Addis, joined by Assemblymembers Bauer-Kahan, Connolly, Pellerin, Muratsuchi and Senator Wiener, sent the following letter to Alice Busching Reynolds, the President of the California Public Utilities Commission:
Alice Busching Reynolds, President
California Public Utilities Commission
505 Van Ness Avenue
San Francisco, CA 94102
Dear President Reynolds:
We are writing to urge the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) to reject the Proposed Decision on Application 23-06-008, which would grant Pacific Gas and Electric Company's (PG&E) request for interim rate relief and allow them to recover an additional $516 million from ratepayers.
In November, the CPUC approved PG&E's 2023-2026 General Rate Case (GRC), which allowed the utility to begin charging 13% more for power at the beginning of this year. This is expected to cost the average family $34.50 more per month, or $414 more per year. Combined with the increasing cost of living in the state, many California ratepayers are struggling to afford this additional burden on their monthly budget.
Now, only a few months later, PG&E is seeking to recover millions more from taxpayers by raising rates once again. If the proposed decision is approved, electric bills are expected to increase an additional $15 per month for the average customer. On top of these requests, PG&E is expected to seek to increase rates even further in the coming months, with more requests to recover costs from ratepayers pending before the commission.
This situation is untenable for many of PG&E's residential customers, who have seen rates balloon by over 80% over the last three years, making PG&E the most expensive power provider in the state. Although some of the utility's lowest-income customers may be able to access discounts, skyrocketing rates have made electric bills burdensome for customers of all income brackets, including middle class customers who will receive no rate relief.
PG&E's move to recover millions more dollars from ratepayers is particularly troubling in light of the fact that the utility recently announced $2.2 billion in profits in 2023, an increase of nearly 25% from 2022. The company also resumed issuing stockholder dividends this year.
California ratepayers are already grappling with some of the highest electricity rates in the nation. It is unconscionable for PG&E to place this additional burden on their ratepayers when they are touting billions of dollars in profits and issuing dividends that will line the pockets of their shareholders. PG&E shareholders should not be making a profit at the expense of hardworking Californians.
As California's regulator of investor-owned utilities, it is imperative that the CPUC protect the interest of the state's consumers and ensure that electricity rates are affordable for all Californians. We therefore urge the commission to reject PG&E's unreasonable request to recover millions more dollars from ratepayers.
Sincerely,
DAWN ADDIS
Assemblymember, 30th District
AL MURATSUCHI
Assemblymember, 66th District
DAMON CONNOLLY
Assemblymember, 12th District
GAIL PELLERIN
Assemblymember, 28th District
SCOTT WIENER
Senator, 11th District
REBECCA BAUER-KAHAN
Assemblymember, 16th District
Dawn Addis was elected to the California State Assembly in 2022 to represent the coastal 30th Assembly District, which includes large portions of San Luis Obispo and Monterey Counties and the south-eastern area of Santa Cruz County.
CONTACT: Julie Cravotto, 916-319-2030