Source: Politico | By Wes Venteicher

Consumer advocacy groups including the CPUC’s Public Advocates Office and The Utility Reform Network also oppose the proposal. TURN says it would sour moderate-income customers on the energy transition by making them pay for others’ heat pumps, and would hurt low-income customers by switching them to more-expensive electricity instead of cheaper natural gas. “We’ve got to look at the big picture here and look at where we’re going,” said Mark Toney, TURN’s executive director. “Yes, we need to electrify and we’re in support of that, but there have got to be other ways to do it.”

A proposal by Southern California Edison up for approval at this Thursday’s Public Utilities Commission meeting would charge ratepayers for 250,000 heat pumps for low-income residents. But regulators are balking at the cost. Heat pumps, as you’ll recall, are a priority of both President Joe Biden, whose Inflation Reduction Act provides tax credits of up to $2,000 for them, and Gov. Gavin Newsom, whose California Energy Commission last year set a goal of 6 million pumps by 2030. Southern California Edison laid out stark numbers in its pitch to the California Public Utilities Commission: The state is on track to install only 4.7 million pumps by 2030, according to the utility’s analysis. Charging customers up to $734 million — or less than $1 per month on average, according to the utility — would help make up the difference in SCE’s territory, it says.

Source: Capital and Main | By Mark Kreidler

“It’s the tip of the iceberg,” said Mark Toney, executive director of TURN, the utility reform network that lobbies for affordable and accessible power for Californians. “I think that people will see a $50 per month increase in one year,” or an extra $600 during that time. Households will struggle more. Over the past four years, PG&E’s bill increases have dramatically outstripped inflation, according to data compiled by TURN. While the Consumer Price Index showed an 18% jump from January 2020 to September 2023, PG&E’s electric rates went up 51% for most households — and, remarkably, 67% for those enrolled in the company’s CARE program for rate relief, according to the advocacy group’s analysis. There’s a far less expensive option, TURN’s Toney said. Called “hardening,” it involves insulating existing power lines with fire-protective coating. It can be completed more quickly, and for about $800,000 per mile — and Southern California Edison has already done it successfully. As always, the burden of bearing this cost will fall hardest on lower-income households, even if they qualify for PG&E discounts. Using data collected from the company’s own disconnection reports, TURN found that the percentage of PG&E customers who were four months behind on their bills rose from 3.8% in 2019 to 7.0% last July. “That’s a stunning increase,” Toney said.

Beginning Jan. 1, power giant Pacific Gas & Electric, which serves 16 million Californians, will impose a 13% increase on the average household bill. That comes to $32.50 a month, or nearly $400 extra per year.

Source: Palo Alto Online | By Sherry Listgarden

The last proposal I will reference is a joint proposal from NRDC and The Utility Reform Network (TURN), an advocate for ratepayers. They split the difference, coming in between most of the other proposals, making some compromises but achieving the essence of what AB 205 calls for. They advocate for modest fixed charges based on three income levels. Rates go down in their scheme, but not to the degree that they go down for the IOUs. Affordability improves, but not as much as it does with the Sierra Club or CEJA proposals. Bills go up for higher-income customers, but electrification can save them money. “Coastal high tier customers for each IOU generally more than double their savings under our new electrification rate proposal relative to the existing rate.” NRDC and TURN seem to be aiming for something that will make things better, be politically palatable, and not be too hard to implement.

Effective energy pricing is key to transitioning away from fossil fuels. Americans are not always great at following rules but we are excellent at following prices. If we align our pricing with the transition we need to see, then we will see it. If we don’t, we won’t. That is why we must fix California’s electricity pricing.

Source: iLind | By Ian Lind

“We have a real affordability crisis for utility costs,” according to Mark Toney, executive director of a consumer group, The Utility Reform Network, or TURN. “One of the biggest cost drivers is this massive expense for burying 10,000 miles of PG&E power lines.”

TURN is promoting an alternative plan to insulate power lines rather than move them underground, similar to what is being done by Southern California Edison, which operates in the Los Angeles area.

A consumer group in California is opposing a proposal by PG&E to move 10,000 miles of its electrical transmission lines underground to avoid future wildfires caused by downed lines, according to a story on Monday in the Mercury News, formerly known as the San Jose Mercury News.

Source: Mercury News | By George Avalos

All of this, however, could squeeze PG&E customers who already must endure fast-rising monthly bills, warned Mark Toney, executive director of The Utility Reform Network, or TURN. The full state PUC is expected to make a final decision by year’s end on the rate case.

“We have a real affordability crisis for utility costs,” Toney said. “One of the biggest cost drivers is this massive expense for burying 10,000 miles of PG&E power lines.”

TURN, a consumer group, has a straightforward plan for power line safety: insulate the lines.

PG&E customers could greatly benefit from the insulation of power lines rather than a program to bury them underground, in TURN’s view.

“Insulated lines are completed much more quickly than burying the lines and at a fraction of the cost,” Toney said. “You are not waiting 10 to 20 years to get the safety you need. You are doing it within a few years.”

The cost of insulation of overhead lines would be about $800,000 a mile, Toney estimated. The cost to bury 10,000 miles of PG&E power lines is roughly $3.7 million to $5.2 million a mile, he added.

Toney, however, notes that Southern California Edison, the principal provider of electricity services in sprawling Los Angeles County and nearby regions, has embarked on a quest to insulate 8,000 miles of overhead power lines, apparently preferring that approach to bury lines.

“Covered conductor is a critical tool to quickly mitigate the threat of wildfires that could be caused by debris blowing into power lines. It helps keep our communities safe,” Steve Powell, Edison’s chief executive officer, stated in July 2022 in a prepared release.

“We support wildfire safety,” Toney said. “We don’t want bare wires all over the place.”

Toney believes that the PG&E power line burial program might oblige the company’s customers to help line the pockets of wealthy investors on Wall Street.

“PG&E’s scheme to underground power lines is the most expensive and most costly method of tackling this challenge,” Toney said. “But it does provide Wall Street investors with a $60 billion gift, paid for by consumers.”

Source: Utility Dive | By Kavya Balaraman

SCE’s experience with wildfire mitigation has shown that insulating overhead power lines is a quick and cheap option to prevent utility-caused fires, according to Mark Toney, executive director of ratepayer group The Utility Reform Network.

On other hand, TURN has concerns about the revenue requirement increase that SCE is requesting as part of its general rate case application.

“We cannot solve the climate crisis exclusively on the backs of electricity customers because it’s the most regressive way to fund climate change [action]. We need to look for things like income tax, and state and federal funds, that have a more fair distribution of who pays,” Toney said.

In a general rate case application with the CPUC in May, SCE asked for a $10.3 billion base revenue requirement for 2025 — a 23% increase over its 2024 requested revenue requirement — followed by increases of roughly $600 million, $700 million and $700 million, respectively, in 2026, 2027 and 2028.

Source: KNEWS | By Shannon Osaka

“In the last decade, electricity prices in California have skyrocketed,” said Matthew Freedman, a staff attorney for The Utility Reform Network, a nonprofit consumer advocacy organization headquartered in San Francisco. In the past 10 years, Freedman explained, non-discounted electricity rates at PG&E have increased 84 percent; SDG&E rates have gone up 137 percent.

Supporters argue that the plan will help the state electrify by lowering costs for residents that might not otherwise afford it. Critics, including many California residents, say that it will eat into progress on energy efficiency and that it is unfair to those who are conserving energy.

Source: The Washington Post | By Shannon Osaka

“In the last decade, electricity prices in California have skyrocketed,” said Matthew Freedman, a staff attorney for The Utility Reform Network, a nonprofit consumer advocacy organization headquartered in San Francisco. In the past 10 years, Freedman explained, non-discounted electricity rates at PG&E have increased 84 percent; SDG&E rates have gone up 137 percent.

Supporters argue that the plan will help the state electrify by lowering costs for residents that might not otherwise afford it. Critics, including many California residents, say that it will eat into progress on energy efficiency and that it is unfair to those who are conserving energy.

Source: SiliconValley.com | By GEORGE AVALOS

“The problem is the sky’s the limit for how much PG&E can request for electricity and gas rates, and the sky’s the limit for what the PUC can approve,” Toney said. “We need to limit rate increases to the annual consumer price index.”

Customers for California’s three major power companies — including PG&E ratepayers — can expect to see some big changes in their monthly electricity bills in the coming years as compliance with a new state law begins to unfold.

PG&E, Southern California Edison and San Diego Gas & Electric, the three major California utilities whose services include electricity, have filed a joint proposal with the state Public Utilities Commission that sketches out proposed changes in monthly bills.