(Los Angeles Times) - You’re not alone if it seems like your electric bill is getting too damn high.
Californians pay some of the highest electric rates in the country. In the last decade households have seen their electricity rates nearly double even while their budgets are squeezed by inflation and rising temperatures from climate change mean they have to use more energy to cool their homes.
And it’s only going to get worse. State greenhouse gas reduction policies are pushing residents to adopt electric cars and appliances that will only increase their electricity consumption. Rate hikes have become bigger and more frequent, rising even faster than inflation for customers of the big three monopoly utility companies whose rates include costs for expensive wildfire mitigation, grid infrastructure projects and disaster-related payouts.
In Pacific Gas & Electric territory, electric bills have climbed from $128 a month for an average residential customer in January 2020 to $226 today. Southern California Edison bills rose from $114 to $180 a month over that same period. It’s no wonder about 1 in 5 California households (and 1 in 3 low-income customers) are behind on their bills, owing an average of nearly $800.
Read more here.