Prepared for an additional $40 a month fee hike from PG&E?

SAN FRANCISCO – FAIR California, a brand new consortium of shopper, labor, environmental, senior, small enterprise and rights-based organizations, staged a really public protest on the headquarters of the California Public Utilities Fee in San Francisco Wednesday morning. They query if Pacific Fuel & Electrical and the state’s Public Utilities Fee is about to take a step too far. 

The gathered group chanted, “Hey Hey, Ho Ho, unfair charges have gotten to go.”  

FAIR California’s said mission is to reinforce fee and security accountability for patrons of all for-profit utilities, most particularly PG&E. They chanted once more simply earlier than the audio system took the rostrum. “What do we would like? Honest charges. When do we would like them? Now!”

Their case was highly effective and dizzying. 

“Over the previous three years Bay Space residents have suffered from very excessive inflation. However, throughout that very same time, our PG&E payments have skyrocketed at 3 times that very excessive fee of inflation and now this firm needs extra,” mentioned San Francisco Metropolis Legal professional David Chiu. 

Former San Jose Mayor Sam Liccardo mentioned this, “PG&E is asking for a Normal Charge Case enhance of 26% of the charges we’re paying.” “$80 a month enhance for the reason that starting of this yr. Yeah, and the CPUC is able to add one other $40 a month on prime of that,” mentioned Mark Toney, Govt Director of shopper advocacy group TURN, The Utility Reform Community. 

PG&E has already filed quite a few different fee requests on the CPUC it hopes might be granted subsequent yr. “They spent tens of millions of {dollars} on lobbyists. They’ve dished out large pay and compensation packages for his or her executives,” mentioned Matthew Ajiake, President of the San Francisco Black Chamber of Commerce.

Whereas PG&E is actually accountable for lots of the unhealthy issues which have occurred, numerous it was permitted, upfront by the California Public Utilities Fee which itself wants a radical evaluation and rehabilitation. “Step one to get out of a gap is to cease digging it. And, the PUC retains digging deeper and deeper holes for California’s fee payers,” mentioned former Sierra Membership Director Carl Pope. 

“We must always, however, have the boldness that the utilities and the Fee that regulates these utilities are centered on our greatest pursuits,” mentioned Rita Saens of the California chapter of AARP, the American Affiliation of Retired Individuals. “Security and affordability and the CPUC want to carry the corporate accountable,” mentioned Meg-Anne Prior of the Working Engineers union.

Charges look to proceed upwards of three% to 4% annually by way of 2026 at finest.