PG&E price hikes have homebuyers looking outside of company's territory
SACRAMENTO — Get ready to pay more for your Pacific Gas and Electric service. State regulators have approved yet another rate hike for the utility company.
The change will add about an average of $5 a month to customers' bills. That's on top of historic hikes that went into effect just two months ago.
The back-to-back rate hikes even have people looking to buy a home outside PG&E's coverage territory.
"This is deja vu all over again," says California Rep. Josh Harder.
Folks are fed up.
"I'm tired of the rate hikes," says PG&E customer Lisa Woods.
"I don't think I can say what I want to say here on TV," says another PG&E customer Sam Cieri.
The California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) approved the price increase, which will go into effect April 1.
"We're talking about a $5 a month increase on top of the $38 increase that went into effect on January 1. The customers of PG&E deserve an explanation," said Mark Toney, executive director of the Utility Reform Network.
PG&E saw $2 billion in profits last year.
"I think this has become a real decision for people to make about whether or not they even want to live in PG&E jurisdiction," Harder said.
Instead of potential homebuyers checking which school district their neighborhood falls under, some are now checking to see which utility district they'll be living in.
"Sometimes, buyers might target Folsom instead of say El Dorado Hills, or they might target a city like Roseville that has its own electric company instead of surrounding areas that are based on PG&E," housing analyst Ryan Lundquist said.
There are no limits on how many times PG&E can increase prices. The CPUC just has to give the go-ahead.
CBS13 reached out to the campus and asked about their approval. They said in a statement, "The decision allows PG&E to recover costs spent on wildfire safety work performed 2020-2022 and natural gas safety work primarily in 2022."
"How can a company make $2 billion in profit and still look at ratepayers and say, 'You have to pay us more money for the exact same service from the year before'? It's not like we're getting a better toaster oven," Harder said.
"They just don't know when to stop," Cieri said. "There's no end in sight."
But there could be an end in sight, as frustrated lawmakers are saying enough is enough.
"Since the public utilities commission is unwilling to set these limits, we need the legislature to step in and set these limits," Toney said.
Harder is currently working on federal legislation to ban consistent rate increases to hold utility companies accountable.
