March 31, 2024 - The Rural County Representatives of California (RCRC) reports on March 27, the Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) issued a new Proposed Decision establishing income-graduated fixed monthly charges on customers of investor-owned utilities. AB 205 (Ch.61, 2022) repealed the cap on fixed charges that utilities may recover from customers to pay for infrastructure-related costs. The proposal is intended to ensure that customers who rely on distributed generation (like solar energy) do not shift infrastructure maintenance costs onto non-solar customers. Controversial proposals by PG&E, Southern California Edison, and San Diego Gas &Electric would have imposed new fixed monthly charges quadruple that of the Commission's Proposed Decision; in PG&E’s service territory this would have amounted to $92/month.
The CPUC’s Proposed Decision is estimated to cut the volumetric rate customers pay by 5-7 cents per kilowatt hour to still encourage energy conservation, and will instead shift certain infrastructure costs to a fixed monthly charge, as follows:
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$6/month for customers enrolled in the California Alternative Rates for Energy (CARE) Program;
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$12/month for customers enrolled in the Family Electric Rate Assistance Program or who lived in affordable housing restricted to residents with incomes at or below 80% of the area median income (e.g. $140,000 for residents of Marin County compared to $67,000 for Tulare and many other rural counties);
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$24.15/month for all other customers.
Fixed rates for non-low-income residential customers for Bear Valley, Pacificorp, and Liberty Utilities would vary from $23.40-$33.98 per month.
The CPUC anticipates voting on this item on May 9, 2024. RCRC is not a party to this proceeding. For more information, see here.
ABOUT RURAL COUNTY REPRESENTATIVES OF CALIFORNIA (RCRC)
The Rural County Representatives of California (RCRC) is a thirty-seven member county strong service organization that champions policies on behalf of California’s rural counties. RCRC is dedicated to representing the collective unique interests of its membership, providing legislative and regulatory representation at the State and Federal levels, and providing responsible services for its members to enhance and protect the quality of life in rural California counties. To learn more about RCRC, visit rcrcnet.org and follow @RuralCounties on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.
Source: RCRC
