Are major changes coming to your electric bill? 5 things to know
Source: CalMatters | By Wendy Fry
Typically what you pay for electricity depends on how much you use. But the state’s three largest electric utilities — Southern California Edison Company, Pacific Gas and Electric Company and San Diego Gas & Electric Company — have proposed a plan to charge customers not just for how much energy they use, but also based on their household income. Their proposal is one of several state regulators received designed to accommodate a new law to make energy less costly for California’s lowest-income customers.
Among several alternatives, one comes from the Utility Reform Network (TURN), a nonprofit consumer advocacy organization headquartered in San Francisco.
Its proposal, filed with the regulatory agency, also calls for an income-based fixed charge, but at fixed fees much lower than what the utilities want.
The group says the utilities already profit enough from customer fees.
“The (utility commission) has to work out all those details and the devil is in the details,” said TURN’s Executive Director Mark Toney.
