Customers of PG&E and the other two utility behemoths in California face a fresh set of monthly charges — on top of already soaring bills for PG&E customers — in the form of a fixed monthly charge.
The state Public Utilities Commission has approved a plan to impose an income-based fixed monthly charge for customers of utility leviathans PG&E, Southern California Edison and San Diego Gas & Electric.
The highest fixed charge would be $24.15 a month for customers of these three utility giants, including PG&E ratepayers.
Here’s how the new fixed fee will affect customers based on their incomes:
— $6 a month for people in the California Alternate Rates for Energy (CARE) program, typically for people at low-income or poverty levels.
— $12 a month for people in the Family Electric Rate Assistance (FERA) program. This is for people of modest incomes with three or more people in the house. As an example, a three-person family would qualify if their annual household income ranges from $49,721 to $62,150.
— $24.15 a month for customers who are not on any sort of subsidized or discounted program.
The state PUC voted 4-0 to approve the new fixed charges.
“We recognize that electricity bills in California are high,” PUC Commissioner Darcie Houck said before the vote. Commissioner Houck added, “This is a relatively modest charge.”
In early January, PG&E residential customers who receive combined electricity and gas services from the utility were jolted with a mammoth increase in monthly bills that hopped higher by more than 20% compared to early January 2023 — far above the increase in the Bay Area inflation rate.
The fixed fees for monthly bills are slated to go into effect in late 2025 for customers of San Diego Gas & Electric and Southern California Edison, and in early 2026 for PG&E customers.
Numerous people spoke before the PUC vote to denounce the new fee, which was made possible by a law that was approved quietly by the state Legislature a few years ago and signed by Gov. Gavin Newsom.
“For millions who live paycheck to paycheck, the impact of the utility tax would be devastating,” Yvette DiCarlo, who represents a coalition of groups that opposes the new fixed fee, said in comments before the state PUC voted.