Source: BNN Breaking | By Olalekan Adigun

The Utility Reform Network (TURN), a notable consumer advocacy group, has been vocal in its criticism of the rate hikes. It argues for the need for regulatory caps on rate increases and advocates for a system where they are tied to cost of living adjustments, akin to those in place for Social Security. The group asserts that this approach could mitigate the financial strain on consumers, particularly those in lower income brackets.

As the dawn of 2024 broke, residents of Oakland woke up to an unwelcome New Year’s surprise: a hefty surge in their monthly electric and gas bills. In the face of public outcry, PG&E defends the rate increases, claiming they are necessary to fund essential improvements to their energy systems. The aim is to reduce wildfire risks and enhance safety and reliability for all users. These ambitious improvement plans include burying powerlines in fire-prone areas and replacing aging gas pipelines, among other measures.

Source: The Mercury News | By George Avalos

Regulators, and potentially lawmakers, must act to rein in soaring PG&E bills and take steps to ensure they are in line with the overall inflation rate, in the view of Mark Toney, executive director of The Utility Reform Network, or TURN, a consumer group. “The current system that sets no limits on rate increases, needs to be replaced by a cap on annual bills, set at the cost of living adjustment provided by Social Security,” TURN, a consumer group, states on its website. Adjustments for the cost of living are typically tied to a benchmark for inflation.

PG&E monthly bills are expected to average roughly $294.50 a month for the typical residential customer who receives combined electricity and gas services from the utility behemoth, according to estimates provided by the company to this news organization. That combined bill is 22.3% higher than the average monthly charges that went into effect about a year ago, at the start of January 2023, when combined bills were $240.73 for the typical residential customer.

Source: The San Francisco Standard | By Kevin Truong

Mark Toney, the executive director of The Utility Reform Network, a consumer advocacy group, said the lack of limits on rate increases is leading to a squeeze on a critical service for customers. "There's no limits on much PG&E can ask for and how many times a year they can ask. There's also no limits on how much [regulators] can authorize," Toney said. "That's why they can ask for another rate increase just weeks after they already received one." Toney's group is pushing for a limit cap on increases that are set at the cost-of-living allowances provided by social security.

Starting Jan. 1, the typical PG&E electricity and gas customer will see their monthly rates rise about $34.50—13%—compared to current bills. That works out to $414 more in utility payments for the year, which would mark a historic increase.

Source: SD Voice | By Maxim Elramsisy

When Los Angeles hosted its annual car show a little over a month ago at the LA Convention Center, it not only showcased the latest in automotive technology, but the event also transformed into a policy forum on clean energy, previewing what lies ahead for California’s electric vehicle (EV) future. Battery-powered cars took center stage. They accounted for the majority of the over 1000 vehicles on display, ranging from cars and trucks to motorcycles, recreational vehicles, and semi-trucks. For Black and other minority advocates in attendance, several concerns emerged. Among them were the impact of the transition to zero emissions vehicles (ZEVs) on Black Californians and how the state will equip low-income neighborhoods with the infrastructure needed when California bans the sale of all gas-powered vehicles in 2035.

Source: KQED | By Vanessa Rancaño

Many people who lose access to utilities end up moving in with others, restarting their utilities under someone else’s name, or leaving the state, said Mark Toney, executive director of the consumer advocacy group The Utility Reform Network. “But some of those people absolutely do end up homeless,” he said.

A quarter of California households reported being unable to pay their utility bills in October, according to a Census survey, resulting in what Columbia University public health professor Diana Hernández and others call energy insecurity, or the “heat or eat dilemma.” “It’s almost like a game of Russian roulette,” she said, describing the monthly juggle low-income families face. “Today’s unpaid energy bill is tomorrow’s eviction notice. And that cycle is a very real one.”

Source: The San Diego Union-Tribune | By Rob Nikolewski

The Utilities Reform Network (TURN), a consumer group based in San Francisco, is concerned that last-minute revisions approved by the CPUC on Thursday could leave ratepayers on the hook. “We’re very disturbed that the proposed decision may allow PG&E to collect a $1.4 billion slush fund from ratepayers that it would use specifically to protect its shareholders from any liability for core performance,” TURN staff attorney Matthew Freedman said.

The California Public Utilities Commission approved a plan Thursday to keep the Diablo Canyon Power Plant near San Luis Obispo open for at least six more years. The decision “is an important measure towards supporting the reliability of the California electricity grid as we move forward in our energy transition,” said Karen Douglas, the commissioner assigned to the case. “California’s path forward in the energy transition hasn’t always been easy and won’t always be easy.”

Source: Blaze Media | By Candace Hathaway

The Utility Reform Network, a nonprofit group opposed to the "outrageous" rate hikes, accused PG&E of gouging its customers. "It's gonna be between $12 and $20 additional each month. That's on top of the $33 that's coming January 1," said Mark Toney, the network's executive director. "They want them to start collecting in March, even before the CPUC has held a proceeding and decided whether PG&E should get paid back by rate payers; $2 billion for overspending," Toney continued. "Oh, PG&E has several requests for at least another $3 billion." Toney explained that the electric company is attempting to get customers to cover costs "for something that has not even happened." He noted that the Utility Reform Network is partnering with legislators to set price increase limits to protect customers.

Pacific Gas and Electric Company customers will see their bills increase by $33 per month starting at the beginning of the year. However, PG&E claims it is not enough to protect against climate concerns. The utility company is now seeking approval for another rate hike that will increase monthly bills by $12-$20 per month on top of the already-approved New Year's Day increases that have yet to appear on customers' bills.

Source: SF Gate | By Madilynne Medina

This interim rate would add another $12 - $20 to customers’ bills per month for a year starting in May, on top of the recently approved 12.8% boost, Mark Toney, executive director of TURN – The Utility Reform Network, said in a Tuesday statement. That would mean a total hike per month of $40 to $60 over what customers paid in 2023, Toney said.

Be prepared for your PG&E bill to be higher next year. Starting with their bill sent in February, customers will pay on average about $30 to $35 per month more than what they paid in 2023. The increase, which takes effect Jan. 1, comes as the result of unanimous approval last month by the California Public Utilities Commission of a 12.8% rate hike. And if PG&E gets its way, an additional increase could land later in the year

Source: KMJ Now | By Broeske and Musson

Less than a month after rate hikes were approved, PG&E wants another $2 billion from customers. INTERVIEW: Mark Toney/Executive Director, Utility Reform Network (TURN) discusses what he's trying to do to stop the extra increase.

Source: KRON 4 | By Terisa Estacio

“This is outrageous to have this again on top of that increase puts $30 on our bills,” Mark Toney, executive director of TURN, watchdog agency The Utility Reform Network. Toney is not holding back on his perspective of PG&E saying it needs more money. “This would put $12 on top of the $30,” Toney said.

Last month, the California public utilities commission approved an increase in monthly bills that would add about thirty dollars for gas and electricity users. Now the utility company is back to the table asking for more money that would impact customers. PG&E filed an application to the California Public Utilities Commission on Dec. 1. It lays out why the utility company says it needs $2 billion from rate payers. They claim it is for safety reasons.

Source: ABC 7 News | By Dustin Dorsey

"Every increase that you hear about is just the tip of the iceberg,' The Utility Reform Network exec. director Mark Toney said. "And every increase that gets approved by the California Public Utilities Commission stacks on top of each other." The Utility Reform Network, or TURN, says the company wants to start collecting those increases from customers before the CPUC has even completed a proceeding with all parties involved.

Get ready to pay more on your electric bill. Last month, the California Public Utilities Commission approved a nearly 13% rate hike which you'll start seeing that on your bills starting Jan. 1. But now, PG&E has requested another hike and they're asking for another $2 billion.

Source: KTVU | By Tom Vacar

Consumer group, The Utility Reform Network is hotly opposed. "It's gonna be between $12 and $20 additional each month. That's on top of the $33 that's coming January 1," said The Utility Reform Network’s Executive Director Mark Toney. Here's the kicker. "They want them to start collecting in March, even before the CPUC [California Public Utilities Commission] has held a proceeding and decided whether PG&E should get paid back by rate payers; two billion dollars for overspending," said Toney. One more kicker. "Oh, PG&E has several requests for at least another $3 billion," said Toney.

Climate change has aggravated inflation, but nowhere more than with Pacific Gas & Electric, the first major utility to deal with far more effects of extreme weather related to fire and floods. PG&E wants more money on top of the average $33 a month rate increase coming on New Year's Day.

Source: The San Joaquin Valley Sun | By Reid Stone

The utility company is seeking an interim authorization to begin raising customers’ bills as early as March, even before the CPUC approves its latest rate increase proposal. Combined with the annual true up of energy costs that start in January, the rate increases could increase average monthly bills by $40 to $60, The Utility Reform Network (TURN) executive director Mark Toney told The Mercury News.

Pacific Gas and Electric is asking for another $1.46 billion from customers to cover costs for wildfire mitigation and catastrophic events. This comes less than one month after the utility’s request for rate increases was approved by the California Public Utilities Commission.

Source: The Mercury News | By George Avalos

“2024 is shaping up to be a painful year for PG&E customers, who may be looking at bill increases of $40 to $60 a month more than in 2023, once all the increases are added up,” Toney said. PG&E is seeking approval of the interim rates to cover recent expenditures in 2022 and 2023 that were linked to wildfire mitigation, vegetation management and catastrophic events such as winter storms that required extraordinary responses by the utility.

PG&E customers face a fresh round of increases in monthly bills — yet again — because the utility seeks to win regulatory approval of early collections even before a key rate case is decided. The most recent request from PG&E sketches out a proposal for an eyebrow-raising $1.46 billion to cover the utility’s recent spending on wildfire mitigation, as well as to help the company stabilize its financial situation.

Source: GV Wire | By Nancy Price

PG&E has racked up uncompensated costs that the company says are creating a financial burden and putting its creditworthiness at risk. Toney said PG&E’s decision to significantly overspend on wildfire mitigation and in other accounts shouldn’t be borne by customers whose rates are already among the highest in the nation. “Yes, they may be in debt. But guess who put them in debt? It was themselves,” he said.

Not even a month after Pacific Gas and Electric’s rate case adding billions of dollars of revenue annually was approved by the California Public Utilities Commission, PG&E is seeking another $2 billion from customers. On Dec. 1, the utility company filed a motion with PUC for higher revenues to cover its unreimbursed costs for wildfire mitigation, catastrophic events, and other items.

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: NBC San Diego | By Kelvin Henry

Critics like Mark Toney, Executive Director of The Utility Reform Network, say their earning model is unsustainable. “SDG&E is recording record profits. Nearly a billion dollars in the past year and this is something that’s of a lot of concern,” Executive Director of The Utility Reform Network Mark Toney told NBC 7's Kelvin Henry. Utility companies like SDG&E often cite climate change, the rise of electric vehicles and the battery storage necessary to sustain them as factors driving costs up. Toney says costs are about priorities. "Every utility company, including SDG&E, has choices to make as to where to make their investment and how to make things as safe as possible at the most cost-effective manner," Toney said. "There needs to be a cap on annual rate increases and the cap should be no more than the cost of living adjustment that social security recipients receive," Toney said.

SDG&E's profits have soared in recent years and ratepayers are taking notice after seeing higher monthly bills. The utility company that serves more than 3 million people in San Diego County says a large reason why their profits are up is because of record investments that improve their products for ratepayers. The utility company reportedly made over $900 million in profits in 2022.

Source: The San Diego Union Tribune | By Rob Nikolewski

“If we’re going to stop that trajectory, we will need to look ahead and think about the ultimate price tag of some of these initiatives,” said Jennifer Dowdell, senior policy expert at The Utility Reform Network, or TURN, a consumer group based in San Francisco. “At this point, we are operating in a rate environment that has no margin of safety.” “The utilities will invest in anything the regulator indicates they’d like them to invest in,” said Dowdell of TURN, “because every dime they spend on rate base, they make money.” For Dowdell, the policy expert for the consumer group TURN, the auditor’s report shows the CPUC must keep a sharp eye on approving projects that go into the rate base because that “is a huge driver” in higher monthly bills that customers pay. “When you look at that rate base trajectory, that to me is the story,” Dowdell said, adding, “The commission and policymakers have to recognize that there may not be sufficient room in rates to fund every policy initiative.”

A review by the Union-Tribune of federal financial submissions shows SDG&E profits have been steadily increasing for about a generation, with the pace accelerating since 2008. Last year’s earnings came to $915 million, the highest in company history. At its current pace, the utility may crack the $1 billion mark by the end of 2023.

Source: The Tribune | By McClatchy California Editorials Boards

TURN, The Utility Reform Network, suggests putting a cap on rate increases; tie them to the rise in the consumer price index, for example. “It is not sustainable to have the sky be the limit,” TURN Executive Director Mark Toney said.

Another big rate increase will hit PG&E customers next year, making California — already the most expensive state in the Union — even less affordable. As recently as Nov. 16, the commission unanimously approved a 13% rate increase for PG&E gas and electric customers, which will add $32.50 to the average bill. Lower-income households that quality for the utility’s CARE program will pay around $21 more per month.

Source: San Francisco Chronicle | By Julie Johnson

“This is the biggest rate case TURN has ever seen,” said Katy Morsony, an assistant managing attorney for The Utility Reform Network, or TURN, an advocacy group for ratepayers. Ratepayer advocacy groups such as TURN pushed for the commission to promote a far less expensive and faster method by insulating bare wires instead of the laborious process of burying them. The CPUC opted to allow for more buried lines. “We’re disappointed,” Morsony said. “We need to be choosing only the most affordable and fastest wildfire safety measures to protect customers and their pocketbooks.”

Millions of California households served by Pacific Gas and Electric Co. will pay about $384 more in 2024 for utilities to help the company prevent wildfires and meet rising demands for electricity. That amounts to about $32.50 more per month for average residential customers, according to PG&E. The California Public Utilities Commission approved the increase Thursday, ending a yearslong debate over how much more PG&E customers must pay to help the embattled utility — which caused a catastrophic explosion in 2010 and major wildfires in 2017, 2018, 2019 and 2021 — modernize its infrastructure, primarily to be more safe.