Source: KSEE/KGPE| By Rhett Rodriguez

“We have to fix a broken system. There are no limits on how much PG&E can ask for increases and how many times a year they can ask,” said Mark Toney with TURN, the utility reform network. He says he is hopeful that the power dynamic between customers and energy companies is shifting, with the introduction of Senate Bill 332.

There’s a new push to limit just how much and how often utility companies can raise rates in California. This comes after PG&E recorded a record profit in 2024 of $2.47 billion while increasing rates six times in that same amount of time.

Source: Sierra Daily News| By Sierra Daily News

However, critics like Mark Toney from The Utility Reform Network argue that mismanagement has led to these financial burdens, citing overspending in past budgets.

PG&E shattered profit records for the second year in a row. The utility announced Thursday it made $2.47 billion in profits in 2024. Over the same time, California state regulators agreed to six separate rate increases. The recent approval of two additional rate hikes for Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) by the California Public Utilities Commission has sparked significant concern among customers. These increases, which mark the fifth and sixth hikes for the utility in 2024, are intended to support vegetation management and extend the operation of the Diablo Canyon Power Plant. The increases will be gradually implemented on customer bills starting in 2026.

Source: Bay City News| By Ruth Desseault

“You have to remember that only 50% of the bills are decided in a general rate case,” said Mark Toney, executive director of The Utility Reform Network, a nonprofit consumer advocacy group. Toney said the original purpose of having the general rate case was to have all the revenue requirements, all of the money that the company would collect, decided in one big case. “But now there are so many other rate cases. Energy efficiency is separate. Wildfire spending is separate. Diablo Canyon is separate. And there’s a big, long list of things that are completely separate from the general rate case,” he said. “Electric vehicle charging stations. I mean, I can go on and on. This is what they’ve been approved. There were five other non-general rate case increases approved in 2024.” Toney said that part of the reason the rates are so high is because there are no limits to how much they can request; no limit to how many times a year they can ask for an increase; and there are no limits to how much of a rate increase the CPUC can grant. Whether the rates will decrease in 2026, he said, is a question of what the rate is compared to. “That’s part of what we’re fighting for over with the Legislature. It may be a decrease from 2025, but it’s certainly an increase from where it started before the 12% increase in 2024,” he said.

In 2023, PG&E announced a 2023-2026 General Rate Case, which explained their planned rates for the near future. The California Public Utilities Commission approved the rates that same year. It specified a 12.8% increase in 2024, a 1.6% increase in 2025 and a decrease by 2.8% in 2026.  Have they stuck to the rate hike schedule?

Source: Mercury News/Bay Area News Group | By George Avalos

“This is the second year in a row of record-breaking profits for PG&E,” said Mark Toney, executive director of consumer group The Utility Reform Network. “The shareholders are getting a lot of love. But while PG&E investors are feeling the love, the customers are only feeling the pain.” “When you keep adding to the rate base with higher bills, you keep adding to earnings,” Toney said. “The record-setting profits will give the legislature the incentive to pass bills to control shareholder profits and protect customers.”

PG&E noted multiple benchmarks in its earnings report and in additional information sent to this news organization.

— The utility completed 366 miles of system hardening, consisting of 258 miles of underground power lines and 108 miles of stronger poles and overhead components.

— PG&E connected nearly 14,000 new customers to the electric system, approximately 30% more than the company had expected.

Source: Grist| By Akielly Hu

But in the absence of laws like the ones in Colorado, Connecticut, and Maine, it’s impossible to know exactly how much utilities are improperly charging customers, said Adria Tinnin, director of race equity and legislative policy at The Utility Reform Network, a consumer advocacy group in California. Under existing California rules, utilities can classify spending in even prohibited categories like promotional advertising or lobbying in vague or misleading ways, Tinnin said. Meanwhile, during rate cases, utility regulators and advocates are often working with limited information, because “utilities do not provide any information that they’re not legally required to,” said Tinnin. “If we don’t have transparency, we can’t know to what extent ratepayers are being ripped off.”

People across the U.S. receiving rising utility bills aren’t just paying for the costs of gas and electricity: They could also be paying for corporate lobbying and advertising.  Such expenses add up to millions of dollars paid by customers toward utilities’ efforts to raise prices and stall climate progress. In some states, that’s starting to change. In 2023, Colorado, Connecticut, and Maine passed the first comprehensive laws to prevent utilities from charging customers for lobbying, advertising, and other political influence activities.  The three states’ laws also introduced limits or bans on invoicing customers for fees for consultants or lawyers hired to argue for rate increases, and required utilities to provide detailed annual reports on political spending to ensure that shareholders — rather than consumers — foot the bill. 

Source: KQED | By Laura Klivans

But the turn came as a “complete surprise,” said Hayley Goodson, a managing attorney at The Utility Reform Network, one of the project stakeholders. “PG&E has been saying for years that it costs less for gas ratepayers to do the electrification project.” Goodson said the reasons PG&E cited for dropping the project have all been known for months and argued it came down to financials. “It’s hard not to think that PG&E just doesn’t want to do the right thing for its ratepayers if they can’t earn a profit from it,” Goodson said.

The lines sprawl below ground unnoticed, starting out large, then branching like limbs of a tree, reaching nearly every home. We pay for them, and we probably never think about them. For most Californians, the maze of gas pipelines beneath our feet allows us to heat our homes and water, dry our clothes and cook our food. But all these functions can be done another way, too: with electricity. And maintaining two systems — gas and electric — is costly and incompatible with California’s climate goals.

Source: LA Times| By Jenny Jarvie

Mark Toney, executive director of TURN, The Utility Reform Network, said the massive scope of the L.A. County fires raised significant questions about the fund’s ability to cover insurance liability. Even if the fund is able to bail out utility companies for the fires, it’s uncertain whether it could then cover fires that may crop up in the future. “Will the fund work right?” Toney said. “Who ends up paying?”

“This is the most profound test case that the fund [$21-billion wildfire fund, split equally between shareholders and utility customers] will potentially be up against,” said Christopher Holden, a former Democratic legislator who sponsored the bill that created the fund. “This is a new frontier,” said Holden, who lives in Pasadena and had to evacuate during the Eaton fire.

Source: Politico| By Will McCarthy and Emily Schultheis

 PG&E OVERSIGHT (2026?): After legislative efforts to supervise PG&E’s spending on wildfire mitigation failed last spring, Utility Reform Network director Mark Toney said he was “stunned by the power and influence that PG&E has regained in the state legislature.” Toney says an effort to deliver oversight via initiative is possible, a cause that could get a boost from speculation that power lines may have sparked some of L.A.’s blazes, although he noted his consumer advocacy organization would be unlikely to take a campaign leadership role.

Last November, dozens of fire-fighting measures — from wildfire prevention bonds to stopgap special taxes — appeared on ballots around the state, part of local governments’ response to the previous decade’s large wildfires that leveled entire towns and burned a quarter of the state’s forestland. Many passed, in both rural communities typically skeptical of new taxes and spending and dense urban areas where wildfire has not always been a leading public-safety concern. In Los Angeles County, voters approved Measure E, which by generating $150 million per year to raise equipment and staffing levels for county firefighters, now “couldn’t be more relevant,” as County Supervisor Kathryn Barger put it last week.

Source: Politico | By Camille Von Kaenel, Blanca Begert, Alex Nieves, and Zack Colman

Utility watchdog types are holding back for now. “We’re taking a wait-and-see position,” said Mark Toney, executive director of ratepayer advocacy group The Utility Reform Network. “There are certain questions we’re concerned about, like did they shut off the right power at the right time. … We don’t know, so we hate to jump to a conclusion, because too much is at stake.” 

Southern California Edison filed an incident report with the Public Utilities Commission last night “out of an abundance of caution,” noting that they’d received “preservation notices from counsel representing insurance companies in connection with the fires.” The filing said a preliminary analysis showed no interruptions or anomalies on their energized transmission lines in the area until an hour after the Eaton Fire that burned through Altadena and Pasadena started. The Wall Street Journal also reported today that the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power didn’t proactively shut off lines in the area burned by the Palisades Fire as windstorms swept the area, a safety protocol that every other major California power provider has in place. LADWP didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.

Source: CBS Sacramento | By Dillon Fuhrman

"We got to have limits on increases, limits on overspending and limits on corporate profits so that every day customers can get some relief," said Mark Toney, Executive Director of The Utility Reform Network (TURN). TURN, a utility companies watchdog, thinks there needs to be caps on non-fixed increases for investor owned utilities like PG&E. 

The California Legislative Analyst Office (LAO) confirmed this in a report that says electricity rates in the Golden State are increasing at a faster rate than inflation. The driving factors: Wildfire reduction related costs, ambitious greenhouse gas reduction programs and inconsistency in prices across utilities.

Source: Sacramento Bee | By Ari Plachta

Mark Toney, executive director of The Utility Reform Network, said the report underscores the ability of smaller publicly owned utilities to stay on course to meet climate goals while keeping rates low. “The IOUs have basically been issued a credit card with no limits and a guarantee that someone else is going to pay the balance,” he said. “I’m hoping legislators will look at this report and ask what can we do to set limits on annual overspending.” He pointed to several policy options for lawmakers, including placing limits on shareholder returns, creating public financing options, restricting the use of less-regulated accounts, or using a financial tool called securitization to make rates more affordable. “The utilities were able to kill almost everything they didn’t like last year,” Toney said. “At some point elected officials just have to stand up and say this time we’re going to put ratepayers in front of Wall Street investors.”

Wildfire prevention and climate programs have drastically raised Californians’ monthly electricity bills, potentially forcing state leaders to balance ambitious carbon emissions goals with affordability concerns, the state analyst said. Lawmakers “may be faced with a frank decision about how to balance the state’s ambitious greenhouse gas reduction goals — and all of the associated benefits — against the inevitable costs that will result for ratepayers,” the report found.

Source: San Jose Mercury/ Bay Area News Group | By George Avalos

Mark Toney, executive director of consumer group The Utility Reform Network, or TURN, said “there is a lot to like in this report” for consumers, “particularly in terms of identifying wildfire mitigation as being a major expense.” “The report also talks about the profit motives that the corporate-owned utilities such as PG&E vs. the motives of publicly owned utilities” such as the Sacramento Municipal Utilities District, Toney said. “The publicly owned utilities have an incentive to save money. The corporate utilities have an incentive to maximize profits,” he said. “The state legislature is going to have to develop a spine to say no to Wall Street and big investors and to say yes to safety and defending the ratepayers.”

Soaring monthly electricity bills from the likes of PG&E and its utility siblings could hobble California’s quest for an aspiring green energy future, a disquieting new state report shows.

Source: CBS News | By Tori Apodaca

"We got to have limits on increases, limits on overspending and limits on corporate profits so that everyday customers can get some relief," said Mark Toney, the executive director of The Utility Reform Network.  Toney thinks there needs to be caps on nonfixed increases for investor-owned utilities like PG&E. 

California residents are paying more for electricity than practically any other state, according to a Legislative Analyst's Office (LAO) report. The report said California has the highest residential electricity rates across the country, just behind Hawaii. It found that residential electricity rates in the Golden State are increasing at a faster rate than inflation. The driving factors listed by the report are significant and increasing wildfire‑related costs, the state's ambitious greenhouse gas reduction programs and policies, and differences in utility operational structures and services territories. 

Source:Bloomberg Law | By Titus Wu

Consumer advocate Mark Toney, executive director of The Utility Reform Network, a nonprofit based in Oakland, is skeptical that lawmakers can tackle the issue properly. “The legislative process is immune to data and evidence,” said Toney. “That’s just not how they operate. They operate throughpolitical pressure. They operate through campaign contributions. They operate through a lot of other factors.”

“Containing costs in the energy sector has been the number one priority for me since I was appointed to chair this committee,”Assemblymember Cottie Petrie-Norris (D), who runs the Assembly Utilities and Energy Committee, said. 

Source:KRON Bay Area | By Dan Kerman

“We got to fix a broken system where there are no limits to how much PG&E can ask for increases how many times a year,” said Mark Toney of The Utility Reform Network (TURN). “No limits to how many times the public utilities commission can say yes.” Toney says basic gas and electric service has become unaffordable for many, and it’s time the legislature set limits. Toney says basic gas and electric service has become unaffordable for many, and it’s time the legislature set limits.

PG&E says that compared to last month, the cost of using gas in your home will go up an average of $9 a month, while those on discounted rates will see a $7 increase. It will actually be less expensive for customers to turn on their lights. Regular customers will see electric bills go down an average of $1 a month compared to last month, while those on discounted rates will see their average monthly bill go down $8.50.

Source: KRCR-TV Chico | By Hannah Gutierrez

Mark Toney, Executive Director of The Utility Reform Network, spoke with KRCR about 10 rate increase requests currently pending, which could result in bill increases of $30 to $40 a month if most requests are approved. “High utility prices lead to homelessness, because people are getting evicted, and it’s a roadblock to climate change action. If you think your bills are too high, and they need to come down, call your state assembly member, call your state senator, call the Governor," Toney said. Toney added that customers experienced six rate increases in 2024, resulting in roughly a $60 bill increase per month.

PG&E reports that customers who do not currently benefit from monthly discounts will see their electric rates remain the same. Customers using 31 therms with 'supply and demand' from the company will see gas bills increase by $9 monthly; Those with discounts will see an increase of around $7.

Source: San Francisco Standard | By Kevin Truong

Mark Toney, executive director of the Utility Reform Network, said PG&E has more rate increase proposals scheduled to go in front of regulators in the coming months. “When you open your bill, you get the initial rate shock, but you also get hit with the impact of higher energy prices at the grocery store,” Toney said. “High energy prices filter down to nearly everything you buy.” He said the reduction in wildfires caused by PG&E is evidence that the utility is taking steps to improve safety, but he takes issue with the lack of oversight of its spending. For instance, he pointed out that PG&E has prioritized burying power lines, an expensive and labor-intensive method, over insulating them, which is roughly five times cheaper. “2024 has been pretty harsh on PG&E ratepayers,” Toney said. “We’re campaigning for affordable power, the ability to cap and limit rate increases, and new guidelines for spending and overspending.”

PG&E had profits in 2023 of $2.24 billion, a 24% increase from the previous year, and is on track to earn more in 2024. The company’s share price is up more than 12% from the beginning of the year, and its last reported quarterly profit, $791 million, exceeded Wall Street analyst expectations. All told, PG&E saw profits of more than $2 billion in the first three quarters. The Utility Reform Network, a nonprofit that advocates for imposing regulatory guardrails, is trying to pass state legislation that would stop utilities from being able to pass along to customers the costs of lobbying or advertising. A previous version of the bill died this year in committee.

Source:SF Chronicle | By Julie Johnson

“The rates need to come down,” said Matthew Freedman, a staff attorney with The Utility Reform Network, an advocacy group for ratepayers. Electricity rates have increased more than 50% compared to 2022 and by about 80% compared to 2020, according to Freedman.  Freedman said the Public Utilities Commission is considering additional electricity rate increases for 2025. “The fact that Jan. 1 rates are relatively flat compared to 2024 is not encouraging,” Freedman said. 

The California Public Utilities Commission voted Thursday to allow PG&E to collect $38 next year, or about $3.20 per month, from average residential customers — slightly less than PG&E requested — to keep the Diablo Canyon nuclear power plant in San Luis Obispo County running longer than planned. Commissioners also approved PG&E’s plan to charge average residential customers $18 next year, about $1.50 monthly, to cover other annual costs for generating and buying electricity. Another increase approved Thursday won’t hit customer bills until March 2025: $40 per residential customer collected over 12 months, or about $3.40 monthly, for the company’s 2020 tree trimming costs. That year, the state stepped up its oversight of the company’s vegetation management work due to wildfire safety concerns. 

Source: San Jose Mercury/Bay Area News Group | By George Avalos

Mark Toney, executive director of consumer group The Utility Reform Network, said the difference in financing costs could benefit customers. “We have to make sure PG&E doesn’t just spend the money on their pet projects but spends every dollar on projects that the PUC has determined will provide the greatest public benefit to the ratepayers,” Toney said. “The customers are the ones who are going to have to pay this back.”

PG&E said an expected record-setting $15 billion federal loan guarantee will help customers save money on an array of critical projects, but multiple advocacy groups warn that the investor-owned utility’s ratepayers may face higher bills.

Source: KGO, ABC 7 | By Suzanne Phan

Mark Toney is Executive Director with TURN, The Utility Reform Network. "This loan allows PG&E to make needed investments in wildfire safety in expanding the grid to serve more customers," said Toney. PG&E says the money could also be invested into lowering costs for its customers. Toney questions that. "We believe that reducing ratepayer bills is a high priority," said Toney. "PG&E has had four rate increases that went into effect in 2024 and there are two more rate increases on this Thursday's Public Utility Commission agenda.” TURN says the loan overall is a win for California.

PG&E could be getting a record $15 billion loan from the U.S. government. The money will be used to help modernize PG&E's power grid. The conditional low-interest loan is supposed to help pay for a number of costly energy projects. Supporters say the loan could end up saving PG&E bill payers a lot of money in the long run.