Some Californians are up in arms as a state panel voted to approve a change to electric bills that critics say will negatively impact those who don’t use very much electricity.
The $24.15-per-month charge, approved by the state Legislature and signed into law by Gov. Gavin Newsom as a budget revision in 2022, was solidified by a 4-0 vote from the California Public Utilities Commission on Thursday.
As CalMatters notes, there are also $6- and $12-per-month tiers for lower-income people.
The fee is intended to be offset by lower rates for power used, about 5 to 7 cents per kilowatt hour, according to state Capitol reporter Eytan Wallace.
The measure is backed by the state’s three largest power companies, as reported by the Los Angeles Times.
Those companies —Pacific Gas & Electric, Southern California Edison and San Diego Gas & Electric— argued that the changes encourage people to “ditch cars and appliances that run on planet-warming fossil fuels and replace them with vehicles, stoves and heaters that operate on electricity from solar panels and wind turbines,” the Times reports.
Critics, however, say the fee will result in higher bills for those with smaller homes and apartments, which generally use less electricity while benefiting the generally wealthier people in larger homes.
“There is a trend nationwide of utilities trying to move more of the payments they extract from ratepayers into fixed fees because they get that money no matter what,” Ken Cook, president of the Environmental Working Group, told the Times. “This is easy money.”