‘Complete rip-off’: Major utility to jack up rates in the name of climate change

A major utility company serving millions of Americans wants to jack up its electricity rates because of climate change, according to Fox KTVU.

The Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E), a California-based utility provider with more than five million customers, has requested state regulators allow the firm to raise rates by an average of up to $20 each month because of climate change, according to Fox KTVU, a local outlet that cited analysis conducted by The Utility Reform Network. This requested hike would supplement an already-approved increase scheduled to kick in on January 1, 2024, which is expected to raise utility bills by an average of $33 each month.

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PG&E asserts that the rate hikes, if approved, will provide it with the billions of extra dollars needed to fortify its infrastructure to endure climate change and its impacts, according to its filing with the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC), the state’s utility regulator.

“It’s gonna be between $12 and $20 additional each month. That’s on top of the $33 that’s coming January 1,” Mark Toney, the executive director for The Utility Reform Network, told Fox KTVU. “They want them to start collecting in March, even before the CPUC has held a proceeding and decided whether PG&E should get paid back by ratepayers; two billion dollars for overspending … PG&E has several requests for at least another $3 billion.”

The company’s power lines sparked several massive wildfires in the state in the late 2010s, but the utility instead blamed global warming for the tragedies.

“There needs to be serious auditing of this organization to make sure that they’re not being wasteful, inefficient as passing costs onto people, particularly those that don’t have income that are unfair,” Edward Voss, a retired accountant, and a PG&E customer, told Fox KTVU.

“I think it’s a complete rip-off,” another PG&E customer, Ron Rosaia, told the outlet.

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