PG&E bills head higher again — but earlier decreases ease sting

OAKLAND — PG&E bills are heading higher this month in yet another round of rising electric and gas costs — but decreases during the summer have eased some of the sting produced by the latest billing upswing.

Typical customers who receive both electricity and gas services from PG&E can expect average monthly bills to total $281 a month, according to PG&E.

That’s up $7, or 2.6%, from the average monthly bill of $274 in August for combined electricity and gas services.

“The rate change ensures that previously approved revenues are collected to cover the cost of safely and reliably operating and maintaining the natural gas system,” PG&E stated in a post in the utility titan’s Currents blog.

Last March, the state Public Utilities Commission authorized PG&E to pursue the higher monthly bills.

Here is a summary of the changes in the electric and gas bills that became effective on Sept. 1:

— Electric bills now average $206 a month for the typical residential customer. That’s an increase of $1, or 0.5% compared with the August electricity charge of $205 a month.

— Natural gas bills now average $75 a month for residential customers. That is up $6, or 8.7%, compared with the gas bill of $69 in August.

In July, PG&E instituted a temporary reduction in residential electricity bills of about 9% starting July 1, the company said.

The lower rates were expected to reduce bills by $20 a month, or even more, for a typical household that uses 500 kilowatt-hours per month of electricity, according to PG&E.

The temporary decrease was instituted in the wake of a decision by the state PUC to authorize an interim rate increase for PG&E, starting in May.

The interim rate increase produced an average bill of $300 a month for the typical residential customer getting combined electricity and gas services. That also marked the first time the average PG&E monthly bill reached the ominous milestone of $300.

PG&E Chief Executive Officer Patricia Poppe began raising eyebrows regarding electricity and gas bills during an impromptu interview with this news organization during an event in Richmond.

“We see a future where customers’ bills can start to come down,” Poppe said in the interview.

Poppe believes PG&E can find ways to accomplish intricate cost controls, widen technology deployment and improve safety measures, all of which could lead to lower bills.

“All of these things can happen,” Poppe said in April.

Oakland-based PG&E in the blog post identified multiple ways to plan and accomplish the cost savings to set the stage for lower utility bills:

— Increased efficiency in planning and carrying out electric safety and reliability projects for a savings of $300 million.

— Bundling electric powerline projects for a savings of $20 million. Rather than do individual jobs separately on a section of the power line system, PG&E has begun to group projects into a single scope of work.

— Reducing new-service project cancellations, saving $14 million. Streamlining the application process to more quickly evaluate projects saves money and improves the customer experience.

PG&E has come under fire in a big way because the company’s monthly bills have been rising far faster than the Bay Area’s overall inflation rate.

In 2023, PG&E monthly bills zoomed higher by 22.3% for the average residential customer who receives combined electricity and gas services from the power company.

Over the same 12 months, the Bay Area inflation rate rose 2.6%, This means PG&E bills rose more than eight times faster than the overall inflation rate in the nine-county region last year.

The utility titan seeks to rein in monthly bills and slow them to a pace that’s more in line with inflation.

PG&E is hopes to limit combined gas and electric bill increases to no more than an average of 3% per year through 2026.

This outcome and goal don’t quite measure up to the monthly bill patterns that Poppe sketched out.

“We see prices falling in the future and we are working every day to make that happen,” Poppe said.

Last year, PG&E reduced operating costs by $510 million. The company’s goal is to reduce costs by up to $1 billion in 2024.

“We understand our customers’ concern over higher energy bills,” said PG&E vice president of customer experience Vincent Davis.