Customers are Venting their Rage at PG&E on Social Media. It Might Get Even Hotter Soon

Source: The San Francisco Standard |  By Alex Mullaney

Shocked and dismayed Pacific Gas & Electric Company customers are taking to Reddit and Nextdoor to find economic relief—and plain old vent—over their soaring energy bills since a $33-per-month rate hike took effect on Jan. 1. San Francisco need not look further than Sacramento to see the savings that come from public power. Residents in the capital pay $135 for 750kwh of electricity versus the $345 that PG&E customers pay.

Mark Toney, head of The Utility Reform Network, estimates energy bills will go up beyond what PG&E estimates to at least $60 a month since the company has other rate increase requests in with the commission. “It feels like the customers are experiencing all the pain for the shareholders to reap all the gain,” Toney said. “This is organized corporate crime for them to be charging so much and extracting so much from people for their investors.”TURN is looking for a California lawmaker to sponsor a package of legislation that will offer ratepayers relief, require more corporate accountability and generally better protect customers.