Bay Area Consumer Prices Rise At Modest Pace — But Stay At High Levels

Source: The Mercury News |  By George Avalos

Consumer prices in the Bay Area rose at a moderate pace in December in a hopeful sign that inflation is easing — but the cost of electricity provided by utilities such as PG&E rocketed higher, an official report shows.The Bay Area inflation rate, as measured by the region’s consumer price index, rose 2.6% in 2023, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported on Friday.

The soaring electric utility costs in the Bay Area alarmed Mark Toney, executive director of The Utility Reform Network, a consumer group. Toney has harshly criticized PG&E for fast-rising utility costs that have far outpaced the general cost of living in the Bay Area. Toney also believes the state Public Utilities Commission has enabled PG&E’s sharply higher power cost by readily approving the bulk of the company’s rate requests.“More and more families on fixed incomes are being pushed to the brink of homelessness because of the unlimited rate increases for PG&E,” Toney said. “This is a crisis.”