The California Public Utilities Commission imposed a flat rate of $24.15 per monthone of the highest in the country, in an attempt to change the way customers in the Golden State pay for electric energy service.
This determination allows California’s large investor-owned utilities to including Pacific Gas & Electric and Southern California Edisonadd a fixed charge to your customers’ energy bills each month.
For most residents, The charge will be $24.15 dollars per month and will pay for the installation and maintenance of the equipment necessary to bring power to homes.
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Lower-income residents who are enrolled in one of two discount programs will pay a lower amount, either $6 dollars or $12 dollars a month.
Due to the new position, the price of electricity will drop between 5 and 7 cents per kilowatt hour. One kilowatt hour is the energy needed to operate a 1,000-watt appliance (a coffee maker or vacuum cleaner, for example) for one hour.
The adjustment goes into effect late next year for Southern California Edison and San Diego Gas & Electric customers; while for Pacific Gas & Electric customers, the adjustment takes effect in early 2026.
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The new flat rate comes as California faces what consumer advocates have called an affordability crisis for the state’s utility customers, who now, on average, face the second-highest energy rates in the country.
Rates have doubled for many customers and resources are allocated to spend billions of dollars to update their obsolete networks and on working to reduce the risk of power lines causing more catastrophic wildfires.
For people who consume a lot of energy every month, This will reduce the amount of your monthly bills.
Residents who live in Fresno, where temperatures can exceed 100 degrees, They would save around $33 dollars by using their air conditioners during the summer, according to the commission. This is because the savings they will obtain from the drop in the price of electricity will be greater than the amount they will pay for the new fixed charge.
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Other residents who will also benefit, according to the commission, will be the owners of electric cars or who use other electrical appliances, such as heat pumps, who will save an average of between $28 and $44 per month.
“Offers affordability to low-income Californians and those who live in other parts of the state most affected by extreme weather,” said California Public Utilities Commission Chairwoman Alice Busching Reynolds.
For customers who do not consume as much energy, the new fixed charge could increase your bill each month. This includes people who live in smaller apartments or who live in cooler areas and don’t use air conditioning as much.
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For them, the drop in the price of electricity would not be enough to offset the amount of the new monthly chargel.
Most states already have fixed monthly charges on utility bills to pay for electric grid maintenance and infrastructure.
However, in California, where electricity rates are among the highest in the country, any measure that could increase prices causes alarm among consumers and elected officials.
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18 members of Congress from California They asked the commission to keep the fixed rate low, noting that the national average for fixed charges on utility bills is $11. Some Democrats and Republicans in the state legislature backed a bill that would cap the fee at $10 a month.
The fixed rate remained at a lower amount than what the public service companies requested which was between $53 dollars and $71 dollars per month.
Keep reading:
· Mass blackouts due to storms left California without power, exposing the vulnerabilities of the electrical grid
· PG&E Co. receives $1.1 billion in federal government subsidy to operate Diablo Canyon nuclear plant
· Starting March 1, PG&E will increase its rates for average residential customers by more than 9%