SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) — For the fourth time this year, Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) rates are going up after state regulators voted Thursday to approve the increase.
The California Public Utilities Commission voted unanimously to approve the hike which amounts to about $6 more on an average bill a month.
PG&E claims the rate increase is needed to recoup electricity expenses paid during winter storms which brought widespread power outages.
RELATED: After rate hikes this year, PG&E announces nearly 25% increase in profits to $2.2B for 2023
According to PG&E data, residential utility rates have increased 54% since 2020, when the utility exited bankruptcy.
“Anytime there’s an increase in the cost of living, it will disproportionally impact our communities of color, low-income, elderly communities,” said Erin Hawkins with Community Action Marin.
Last week, PG&E declined ABC7’s request for an interview before the vote but sent this statement:
“PG&E is working to limit combined gas and electric bill increases to no more than an average of 3% per year through 2026. PG&E has adopted company-wide savings initiatives to reduce operating costs and limit unnecessary expenses.”
In February, PG&E announced its profits for 2023 surged to over $2.2 billion – a jump of almost 25 percent.
“These outrageous profits that the PG&E shareholders are pocketing are coming out of the pockets of customers,” said Mark Toney who 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 2024.
RELATED: PG&E claims there is no connection between rate increases, $2.2 billion jump in earnings
“I think a lot of people get upset and say, PG&E cries poor me and yet they have plenty of money,” Toney said.
PG&E customers already paid some of the highest energy bills in the country before 2024’s hikes.
In February, PG&E representatives said there was no connection between the rate increases and its earnings.
“A financially healthy utility is a good thing for our customers, because we can borrow and do these infrastructure projects at more affordable rates,” PG&E spokesperson Rob Stillwell said. “But the notion that anything coming out of our earnings report is in direct result of the rate increase, is completely false.”
Those infrastructure updates include the undergrounding of lines, a major project in the works after PG&E’s aging power grid caused dozens of wildfires, some deadly.
But PG&E says the changes made at the state capitol are forcing hikes too.
“A lot of them are state policies that were enacted. There’s a lot of public support programs, there are a lot of solar programs that come out of the legislature and get put in, and we’re the middle part of the equation,” Stillwell said.
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