State Judge Paves Path for Higher PG&E Bills — Starting this Spring

Source: Santa Cruz Sentinel  |  By George Avalos

PG&E customers face the forbidding prospect of higher monthly bills — starting this spring — now that a state law judge has smoothed out a pathway to interim rate relief for the utility behemoth. An administrative law judge for the state Public Utilities Commission has issued a proposed decision that clears the way for the PUC commissioners to make a final decision in March that would authorize PG&E to extract more money from customers. Law Judge Camille Watts-Zagha issued the proposal.

PG&E customers could be paying $4 to $6 more a month for their utility service if the powerful five-member PUC panel agrees with the proposal issued by the PUC law judge, estimated Mark Toney, executive director of The Utility Reform Network, or TURN. Toney believes the PUC will agree to the proposal. He noted that the state PUC has approved four prior requests by PG&E for interim rate relief. “The chances are good that this will sail right through,” Toney said.