PG&E bills will go up by this much each month

OAKLAND, Calif. - Pacific Gas & Electric customers have witnessed their electric bills rise over the past year and will see additional costs after California regulators approved another rate hike.

The California Public Utilities Commission, which oversees privately owned utilities, approved PG&E's new rate hike of 2.7% or about $6 per month on Thursday.

The utility seeks to recoup $944 million for wildfire mitigation expenses and damages from outages during recent severe storms.

This marks PG&E's fourth rate hike within a year. According to Action News Now, on Sept. 1, customers started paying an additional 0.5%, about $1.12 per month on average. There was also a $3.65 increase in April, and at the year's start, monthly bills rose by an average of $32.

PG&E has said inflation has raised the cost of wildfire prevention measures, such as insulating power lines or burying them. Therefore, the company was allowed to transfer these costs to customers.

Consumer advocate Mark Toney of The Utility Reform Network (TURN) said, "They took the side of shareholders, of Wall Street investors, pocketing record-breaking profits." He added, "PG&E has at least 10 pending requests for more rate increases sitting on the desk right now."

Despite higher utility rates, PG&E has found ways to bring relief to customers' wallets.

In July, the utility reduced rates by 9%, a temporary change to allow customers to save on their bills during the summer months. PG&E also applies a $55 climate credit to electric bills twice a year, in April and October.

PG&E acknowledges the fluidity of rate changes throughout the year.

"Rates change throughout the year, with some rates going down as we finish collecting costs, and rates going up when new cost recovery is approved," a PG&E representative said. 

For 2024, PG&E said that the average increase for customers who pay for both electricity and gas services is $21. That figure takes into account rate hikes and decreases.

"PG&E is working to stabilize bills and limit average annual combined gas and electric bill increases to no more than 3% through 2026. We’re being good stewards of our customers’ money by working to maximize every dollar, including adopting company-wide savings initiatives to reduce our operating costs and limit unnecessary expenses," the company added.