Source: San Francisco Chronicle | By Julie Johnson

Mark Toney, executive director of ratepayer advocate nonprofit The Utility Reform Network, criticized commissioners for voting on the rate hike without discussion. “The commission owes an explanation to customers whenever they adopt a rate increase but now more than ever,” he said.

The $4.68 per month estimated increase for average households will last for a period of 12 months starting in April. But bills could climb even higher this year if the commission takes up another proposal from PG&E that would add $14 to $15 per month for average residential customers to recoup costs incurred during last year’s winter storms. Combining that with the January hike and Thursday’s decision, typical residential bills could become at least $53 higher per month than prices last year.

Source: NBC Bay Area | By Jaxon Van Derbeken

"It's small, but there is a whole line up of small increases on the table," said Mark Toney, executive director of the TURN ratepayer group.

The Public Utilities Commission approved a PG&E rate hike Thursday that will add about $5 a month to the average bill and it could begin as soon as next month. Before the approval, the panel heard from a string of ratepayers and critics – some chanting “Stop the Rate Hikes!” – complaining about the hike. The commission approved the hike unanimously without comment. A new board member, who until recently headed the consumer watchdog arm of the CPUC, recused himself from voting.

Source: NBC Bay Area | By Jaxon Van Derbeken

“We’re talking about a company who, in 2023, $2.5 billion to shareholders? PG&E has the money,” said Mark Toney, executive director with the ratepayer advocacy group TURN. “You have no reason to cry poor when we have given you rate increase after rate increase after rate increase.” “These new investors are going to want a return on their investment,” adds Toney of TURN, “and they're going to want a return that's much higher than the regulated rate of return.” But Toney is skeptical of the company's claim - saying partial private ownership could make the utility vulnerable to market pressure and other unknowns. In the end, he says he believes, utility customers could end up paying for more bailout costs instead of utility shareholders. “PG&E is leading with love, the love of money,” Toney said. “The situation right now is that ratepayers feel all the pain and the shareholders are reaping all the gain.”

Despite profits of more than $2 billion last year, PG&E recently told regulators that it is in such a financial bind that it needs more time to make a $1 billion payment. Ratepayer advocates were quick to dismiss the idea that PG&E is facing an actual financial pinch. Those advocates believe the utility's customers are the ones in a real financial bind - thanks to a recent string of rate hikes.

Source: The Press Democrat | By Marisa Endicott

“I have seen and heard more outrage from everyday customers than I ever have,” said Mark Toney, executive director of The Utility Reform Network (TURN), a nonprofit consumer advocacy organization. “Every elected official I run into is telling me that they are just buried with calls from constituents.” Still, that doesn’t mean an immediate stop to rate hikes. Toney, of the utility reform group, noted that there are a number of rate increase requests under consideration by the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC). In fact, on Thursday, March 7, regulators will decide whether to approve the collection of hundreds of millions of dollars from PG&E customers. That increase would allow PG&E to start charging for a portion of a larger proposal filed Dec. 1 by the utility that is still pending approval. If allowed, that could kick in as early as April or May. “It's a smaller increase between four to six dollars a month,” said Toney said. “But, at this point, every increase is just piled on top of what people are already seeing, and we're not done for the year by any stretch in terms of increases, I can guarantee you.”

By the end of last year, PG&E customers owed more than $650 million in unpaid energy bills, according to data compiled by The Utility Reform Network. Customers of California’s other investor-owned utilities are similarly behind by hundreds of millions resulting in a statewide 500% increase in back-owed utility bills since 2019. Nearly 182,000 households served by PG&E who fell behind had their electricity cut off for nonpayment in 2023, almost a quarter of which were never reconnected. Utility advocates and legislators say outreach from frustrated or desperate customers has reached a fever pitch. There’s concern, too, about how high electricity costs will affect the feasibility and buy-in for the state’s massive electrification push.

Source: KGTV ABC 10 San Diego | By Jeff Lasky

“That’s what makes people upset," said Mark Toney, executive director of the watchdog group TURN (The Utility Reform Network). "Right now, it feels like customers are bearing all the pain. And SDGE investors and executives get all the gain.” TURN calls for CPUC to investigate the wildfire projects to ensure SDGE did not pad the projects to increase profit and “to make sure that the right measures were taken in the right locations with the right results and at the most cost-effective manner for the ratepayers.”

Power bills in San Diego are going up. Effective Mar. 1, San Diego Gas & Electric is implementing a new rate increase. The company expects the increase to work out to a little more than $8 per month for the average customer. SDGE points out that even with the rate increase, customers are still paying less now than they did at this time in 2023, due to an 11% rate cut that took effect in January. However, critics say SDGE should not be raising rates at all, considering its announcement this week that it broke its all-time record for earnings for a second consecutive year, leading to record performance for stockholders.

Source: The San Francisco Standard | By Alex Mullaney

Mark Toney, head of The Utility Reform Network, estimates energy bills will go up beyond what PG&E estimates to at least $60 a month since the company has other rate increase requests in with the commission. “It feels like the customers are experiencing all the pain for the shareholders to reap all the gain,” Toney said. “This is organized corporate crime for them to be charging so much and extracting so much from people for their investors.” TURN is looking for a California lawmaker to sponsor a package of legislation that will offer ratepayers relief, require more corporate accountability and generally better protect customers.

Shocked and dismayed Pacific Gas & Electric Company customers are taking to Reddit and Nextdoor to find economic relief—and plain old vent—over their soaring energy bills since a $33-per-month rate hike took effect on Jan. 1. San Francisco need not look further than Sacramento to see the savings that come from public power. Residents in the capital pay $135 for 750kwh of electricity versus the $345 that PG&E customers pay.

Source: Mother Jones | By Mario Alejandro Ariza and Kristi E. Swartz

“I’m actually flummoxed by why the [utility] CEOs and executives would revert to corruption,” said Mark Toney of the nonprofit Utility Reform Network, “when the record is, you can make so much more if you’re focused on just running the scam that it is.”

Utility fraud and corruption—in Florida, Illinois, Mississippi, Ohio, and South Carolina—have cost electricity customers at least $6.6 billion, according to Floodlight’s analysis. Like waiters with a guaranteed tip, many power companies operate as state-sanctioned monopolies that collect government-guaranteed returns on their investments. The companies increase returns by building new power plants and transmission lines, and by jealously defending their turf—even if it hurts consumers and the environment.

Source: KRCR ABC 7 | By Muna Sadek

Ratepayer advocates with The Utility Reform Network (TURN) says companies should insulate overhead power lines, noting is it is a far cheaper option and would not result in higher energy bills for customers."We have to fix the broken system where the sky's the limit. There are no limits to how much PG&E can ask for or how many times a year," said TURN Executive Director Mark Toney. Toney says undergrounding one mile of power line costs about $4 million while insulating wire costs $800,000. "If you have a cheaper alternative to increase safety, it only makes sense to do that and give customers the best bang for the buck, the most return for their hard-earned dollar," Toney said.

In Sacramento, lawmakers are pushing a bill that they say would help save ratepayers money on their energy bills. Under Senate Bill 1003, utility companies, like Pacific Gas and Electric Co. (PG&E), could be required to consider cheaper, more cost-effective options when it comes to their infrastructure. It would direct the California Office of Electrical Infrastructure Safety to consider the timeliness of infrastructure upgrades in utility wildfire mitigation plans.

Source: KQED | By Danielle Venton

“The bill was ‘right on target in terms of telling the utilities and telling the Public Utilities Commission that we need to find the least cost solutions…”

California has enjoyed a few relatively quiet wildfire seasons, but lawmakers are still focused on lowering the state’s risk and have introduced a number of fire-focused bills in the last few weeks…

Source: Chico Enterprise-Record | By Editorial Board

The Utility Reform Network, a consumer advocacy group that goes by TURN, blasted the profit figures. “TURN believes it is unacceptable for PG&E shareholders to pocket billions in profits at the expense of its customers who have seen bills skyrocket by 33% last year alone,” said Mark Toney, the group’s executive director.

Shameful. Reprehensible. Despicable. Honestly, we wish there were a stronger word to describe PG&E’s ripoff of its largely captive customer base, but we’re stuck to come up with one. The company announced Thursday it earned $2.24 billion in profits last year, an incredibly unjustifiable increase of 24.6% from 2022. Even more alarming, the report also predicted the company’s investors could anticipate even better earnings in 2024; after all, we’re not done with these rate increases. Not by a long shot. As long as there are a few extra pennies in the pocket of any customer, PG&E seems determined to find them.

Source: KRON 4 | By Dan Kerman

Mark Toney with the Utility Reform Network believes it’s time the California Public Utilities Commission stops rubber-stamping these rate hikes and does what he says is right for consumers. “The fact that PG&E is booking record profits for shareholders while ratepaying customers have record high bills is completely outrageous and unacceptable,” he said. “Turn has been calling for a cap to annual rate no higher than the cost of living adjustment that’s provided each year by social security.”

Some PG&E customers are frustrated after hearing the utility increased its profit by almost 25 percent last year, while consumers have seen their rates go up. PG&E just reported a profit for 2023 of $2.24 billion. That comes following a series of rate hikes that have made customer bills go through the roof.

Source: CBS News | By Kristine Lazar

Mark Toney with The Utility Reform Network or TURN, a consumer advocacy group, says its problematic that utilities get to decide if they are liable for damage. "The challenge is, they get to decide whether they're at fault or whether you're at fault, or whether a third party or the weather, or things out of their control," Toney said. "So what that means is, they decide whether they're at fault. I will tell you most of the time they do not find themselves at fault, not surprisingly." Toney explained small claims court is an option, with the limit for individuals at $12,500 and for businesses, it's half of that at $6,250. "It's almost not worth the effort," Toney said.

Some Long Beach small businesses are blaming SoCal Edison after a power outage and subsequent surge fried their pricey equipment, begging the question of who is responsible for it all. A dental office and veterinary clinic both lost equipment worth tens of thousands of dollars following an October 2023 power surge.

Source: Fox 2 KTVU | By Allie Rasmus

"Shareholders are pocketing money based on record rate increases," said Mark Toney, executive director of the non-profit TURN, the Utility Reform Network. Toney said PG&E is planning to ask state regulators to approve more rate hikes in the future. "PG&E has currently sitting on the desk of the California Public Utilities Commission, no less than 12 separate proposals for increases – twelve," he said. "I do think that if enough people call in to their state representatives, the governor's office, and the CPUC they will feel the pressure," said Toney. "This is the time to increase the pressure, especially now that everyone knows PG&E is turning record profits."

PG&E reports it made a $2.24 billion dollar profit last year — a 24% increase from the year before. In a call with investors, PG&E credits last year's rate increases with boosting its bottom line and said it expects to remain profitable through 2028.

Source: RedHeaded Blackbelt | By Sarah Reith

But many people testified that AT&T is not maintaining its infrastructure. And Regina Costa, telecom policy director for TURN, The Utility Reform Network, a ratepayer advocacy organization, disputed the idea of robust competition for reliable phone service. “These guys had the advantage because they had a monopoly for many, many decades,” she said in an interview before the hearing.” And they had customer support for many decades. There was a point in time where they allowed competition for local service, but very few of those companies survived.”

The Board of Supervisors chambers, the overflow room, and the courtyard at the Mendocino County government campus were packed yesterday for a highly interactive public participation hearing about two proposals from AT&T. The California Public Utilities Commission is evaluating the company’s request to relinquish its status as an eligible telecommunications carrier and to be released from its obligation to continue as the carrier of last resort, or COLR.

Source: ABC7 News | By Tim Johns

"These outrageous profits that the PG&E shareholders are pocketing are coming out of the pockets of customers," said Mark Toney. Toney works for The Utility Reform Network or TURN. He says the profits are a slap in the face to customers after substantial rate hikes at the beginning of this year. "I think a lot of people get upset and say, PG&E cries poor me and yet they have plenty of money," Toney said. And with PG&E anticipating perhaps even better profits for this year, TURN says it wants concrete action to stop bills from rising further. "We need a cap on rate increases to be no more than the cost of living adjustment provided by social security," Toney said.

The Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) announced on Thursday that it saw an almost 25 percent increase in profits for 2023. This comes after the utility company slapped customers with substantial rate hikes at the beginning of this year.

Source: The Sacramento Bee | By Ari Plachta

“When I read this, I was like, ‘Holy crap, they’re using ratepayer money,’” said Sen. Dave Min, an Orange County Democrat who authored the bill. “I’m a SoCalGas customer. They’re using my money to lobby against climate regulations, and that is really messed up.”

A state senator introduced a bill Wednesday to strengthen laws that prevent energy utilities in California from passing on the costs of political lobbying to their customers.

Source: National Public Radio: Marketplace Tech | By Lily Jamali & Rosie Hughes

Regina Costa, telecom policy director at the Utility Reform Network, an advocacy group, told Marketplace’s Lily Jamali that having a “carrier of last resort” matters. Regina Costa: It means it can’t pick and choose that it will provide service to some customers and not others. It means the service is supposed to be reliable. It means they decide they’re going to put money into this neighborhood, but not that neighborhood. It’s based on the notion that it is absolutely imperative for society that everyone in our nation has the ability to get essential communication service, for your family, for communicating with your job, for communicating with your school, for communicating with social service agencies and other governments, and especially in times of emergencies.

Before cellphones, a twisted pair of copper wires that linked our homes to the local phone company kept us all connected. Today, in much of California, telecom giant AT&T is still required to provide that basic landline phone service to anyone who wants it. Now though, AT&T is asking regulators to be relieved of that obligation. “No customer will be left without voice or 911 service,” the company says. Californians weighing in, by and large, are skeptical.

Source: The Mercury News | By George Avalos

The Utility Reform Network, a consumer advocacy group that goes by TURN, blasted the latest profit figures. “TURN believes it is unacceptable for PG&E shareholders to pocket billions in profits at the expense of its customers who have seen bills skyrocket by 33% last year alone,” said Mark Toney, the group’s executive director.

The Oakland-based power company earned an eye-popping $2.24 billion in profits last year, an increase of 24.6% from 2022, PG&E reported on Thursday. The report also predicted the utility titan’s investors can anticipate even better earnings in 2024.

Source: USA Today | By Betty Lin-Fisher

If California allows the waiver for AT&T, it becomes a slippery slope for other states, said Regina Costa, telecommunications policy director for The Utility Reform Network (TURN) in California and chair of the telecommunications committee for the National Association of State Utility Consumer Advocates. “I think the nation is watching California very closely,” said Costa. “Is there a replacement that will guarantee service to all customers and guarantee reliable service?” That service needs to be available to all customers at a reasonable cost, said Costa. “Customers really get squeezed with service offerings and price increases” for alternatives, she said.

The California Public Utilities Commission is considering an application by AT&T to waive its responsibilities to be what’s called “Carrier of Last Resort,” meaning the utility has to offer the copper-wire landline service. The utility said in filings with the commission that the technology for the traditional landlines is old and demand is low. The utility and many of its peers have been petitioning state utility commissions and state legislators, asking to be relieved of the task of maintaining and offering the traditional landline service.

Source: Grist | By Akielly Hu

It’s not uncommon for state regulators to fine utility companies for charging ratepayers for lobbying efforts. In 2022, for instance, the California Public Utilities Commission fined SoCalGas $10 million for using ratepayer money to lobby against local gas bans, federal energy efficiency standards, and building electrification policies. But according to Katy Morsony, a staff attorney at the consumer advocacy group The Utility Reform Network, writing those penalties and detailed annual reporting into law will make it much easier to hold utilities accountable. Morsony also clarified that the bills wouldn’t prevent utilities from engaging in lobbying — they would simply be forced to fund that advocacy work exclusively with money from shareholders. But as households face rising energy costs, she added that any policy to prevent utilities from unlawfully extracting more money from consumers will make a tangible difference. “It’s common sense ratepayer protections,” Morsony said. “When you’re in the energy affordability crisis that we’re in, every dollar counts.”

When households in the United States pay their gas and electric bills, they’re paying for energy, the wires and pipelines it takes to get that energy into their home, and the costs of maintaining that infrastructure. But those monthly payments could also be funding efforts by utilities to lobby against climate policies. While federal law prohibits utilities from recovering lobbying expenses from customers, consumer advocates say that those rules lack teeth and aren’t sufficiently enforced. Now, states are taking the lead to ban the practice. According to the utility watchdog group Energy and Policy Institute, lawmakers in eight states, including California and Maryland, have introduced bills this year that would block utilities from charging customers for the costs of lobbying, advertising, trade association dues, and other political activities. The measures build on a growing trend in state policy: Last year, Colorado, Connecticut, and Maine became the first states in the nation to pass comprehensive laws preventing utilities from passing on the costs of lobbying to ratepayers.