Don't let PG&E further gouge its customers

PG&E has few peers when it comes to raking in profits at the expense of its customers.

Since 2018, the utility's average bill for the typical residential customer who received gas and electric services has skyrocketed by

42%, from $169.73 a month to $240.73 a month.

That compares to the overall Bay Area inflation rate over the last five years of 13.5%, or 2.7% a year.

If that wasn't bad enough, the two-time convicted felon is now proposing that it be allowed to harvest even higher revenues from its customers.

PG&E had the temerity to ask the California Public Utilities Commission for permission to increase its revenue in 2023 by a whopping $3.2 billion, or 26%.

The PUC, which has a long history of cozying up to PG&E, must not allow PG&E to further gouge its 16 million customers, not when they already pay some of the highest utility rates in the nation.

The PUC should instead consider the two alternative proposals it issued earlier this month — one crafted by PUC Commissioner John Reynolds and a second offered by a PUC administrative law judge.

Reynolds' plan would allow PG&E to collect a $1.1 billion increase in revenue, or 9% more than what the utility collected in 2022.

That would amount to a $24 monthly increase in PG&E customers' bill, according to The Utility Reform Network (TURN), a consumer group that monitors PG&E.

The utility would rake in $1.6 billion in 2023 under the other alternate plan, which TURN officials said would add $28 a month to customers' bills.

PG&E argues that it needs the money to improve the safety, efficiency and reliability of its gas and electric systems.

The utility also said the bulk of the money would go toward burying its power lines underground in areas that are highly susceptible to wildfires.

But what the utility doesn't say is that its profits aren't determined by how much energy they sell but by how much they invest in infrastructure. PG&E doesn't generate profits when it trims trees and maintains its power lines.

But it does, for example, when it buries new powerlines underground.

State regulators guarantee a 10% profit margin for those investments, meaning PG&E can charge its customers an additional 10 cents in profits for shareholders for every dollar the utility spends on building infrastructure.

Mark Toney, executive director of The Utility Reform Network, says that it would be significantly cheaper for PG&E to insulate its power lines, rather than bury them underground, as a way to protect against catastrophic wildfires.

The two proposals would have PG&E insulate 1,800 miles of power lines and bury 200 miles of power lines at a cost of $2.1 billion.

PG&E proposes insulating 320 miles and burying 2,000 miles of power lines at a cost of $5.9 billion.

The PUC is scheduled to make a final decision on PG&E's rate hikes sometime in November.

It's the PUC's job to make sure PG&E keeps its priorities straight. The PUC must not prioritize PG&E profits over California customers' best interests.