How to put a dent in those sky-high gas, electric bills
The pain, people, is not just from your gas bill. Have you looked at your electric bill lately?
Turns out that after it gets dark and solar panels quit pumping out power, natural gas plants fire up to generate the electricity that keeps lights on through the witching hours.
For a bunch of complicated reasons that are under investigation by the California Public Utilities Commission, gas bills have doubled, tripled, even quadrupled in California even as natural gas prices sank to record lows elsewhere in the nation.
And since your electric company buys power generated from natural gas at night, our electric bills have climbed, too — though not as sharply as our gas bills.
“Since late November 2022, wholesale natural gas prices throughout the West have risen to alarming levels that greatly exceed prices in the rest of the country,” Gov. Gavin Newsom said in a letter to the chair of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, asking for a federal investigation. “Electricity prices … have similarly escalated because electricity prices are directly affected by wholesale natural gas costs. California's residential customers are, consequentially, suffering the economic burden of extreme and unexpectedly high gas and electric utility bills.
“Our industrial, agricultural, water and wastewater utilities, and commercial sectors are also impacted by these significant utility bill increases. All of this is on top of general inflationary pressures affecting all Californians.”
Ugh. Here, then, is a tale of consumer woe, and some resources to help us shoulder these crazy winter bills (which have the
nerve to arrive just as those holiday credit card splurges are coming due).
Electric
Most people in these parts get electricity from Southern California Edison, San Diego Gas & Electric or Pacific Gas & Electric. These bills may look familiar to you:
• November bill:
$107.46.
• December bill:
$215.54.
• January bill: $246.62 (thanks, absurd amount of Christmas lights).
• February bill: $135.81. The first wee bit of relief we’ll see lands next month in the March bills. It’s going to be a $71 credit for Edison customers, a $60.70 credit for SDG&E customers and $38.39 for PG&E customers. It’s arriving a month earlier than usual, as per the PUC’s order.
What, exactly, is it? It’s half of your annual “consumer climate credit,” which typically arrives in spring and fall. California requires industries that emit greenhouse gases to buy carbon pollution permits, so think of this as your cut of that money pot. Annually, these credits shave some $90 to $140 from our utility bills.
People in Edison’s “Power Saver Rewards” program, which credits people who voluntarily reduce energy use when the grid is stressed, will see credits averaging between $40 to $60 on their February or March bills (more info at powersaver. sce.com). Businesses in the similar Emergency Load Reduction Program will receive credits averaging more than $2,000 (more info at elrp.sce.com).
Bill help also is available through the nonprofit Energy Assistance Fund, which offers onetime grants to help pay energy bills. The maximum grant has risen from $100 to $200 for traditional homes and from $200 to $300 for all-electric homes. There’s an application process through community groups; find one in your neighborhood at tinyurl. com/4vm6743s.
Past-due balance? People who have fallen behind may qualify for a 12-month repayment plan.
Want to avoid spikes? The Budget Billing Plan averages bills out into 11 equal payments throughout the year. Peruse other bill-relief options at sce. com/customer-service/billing-payment.
SDG&E offers similar help, which can be found at tinyurl.com/ypuk4ajp. PG&E’s programs are at tinyurl.com/m2xj9fhy.
Head hurt from too much screen time? Customer service people can help by phone. Edison: 800-655-4555. SDG&E: 800-411-7343. PG&E: 800743-5000.
Gas
• November Southern California Gas Co. bill: $21.94
• December bill: $116.91.
• January bill: $176.45.
• February bill: $284.08.
Some relief is in sight as the price of natural gas on the spot market — where California has been buying it — has been coming down, though remains greatly elevated.
While we wait for the market to straighten itself out, there’s a variety of programs to help consumers deal with the craziness, which are summarized at tinyurl.com/2rmn2vtm.
Want bill forgiveness? The Arrearage Management Plan allows qualifying residential customers to have some debts forgiven. See tinyurl. com/22yd39za.
Need help? The Gas Assistance Fund provides one-time grants up to $100 to people who qualify. It’s a joint effort of SoCalGas and United Way of Greater Los Angeles. See tinyurl. com/bde3pz85.
The Level Pay Plan aims to avoid spikes by averaging natural gas use and costs over 12 months. See tinyurl.com/3atey9hx.
You can reduce your gas use by lowering thermostats 5 to 8 degrees, having air ducts tested for leaks and repaired, washing clothes in cold water, reducing the temperature on your water heater, taking shorter hot showers, cleaning or replacing furnace filters, installing proper caulking and weatherstripping and fixing leaky faucets and pipes. See more ideas at tinyurl.com/ rvszjw74.
To talk to a human at SoCalGas, call 877-2380092.
Meanwhile, a chorus of California lawmakers has joined Newsom in asking for a federal investigation of the high natural gas prices.
“(I)t is clear that the root causes of these extraordinary prices warrant further examination,” Newsom wrote, urging the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to “immediately focus its investigatory resources on assessing whether market manipulation, anticompetitive behavior, or other anomalous activities are driving these ongoing elevated prices in the western gas markets. And, if warranted, I ask that FERC bring its full enforcement powers and resources to bear to protect customers.”
We’ll see where that goes. Meantime, stay warm.