Politico: ‘Democrats pushed climate action. Then utility bills skyrocketed’ – ‘Electricity bills are biting lawmakers in coastal, Democratic-leaning districts’
Politico: California Democrats proudly authored nation-leading clean energy goals that forced the automobile industry to go electric and shaped global climate policy. Then the bill came due. There is intensifying political pressure on state lawmakers to do something about utility bills that have shot up by as much as 127 percent over the last decade. … “Californians are fed up,” said Democratic state Assemblymember Marc Berman at a recent news conference in Sacramento. .. Lawmakers there and in other Democratic states with nation-leading climate objectives — like New York and Massachusetts — are scrambling to make their transitions from fossil fuels affordable before they face an all-out ratepayer revolt. …
“Absolutely high rates can threaten the energy transition, and we should be very concerned,” said Matt Baker, director of the California Public Utilities Commission’s Public Advocates Office. “The energy transition depends on public support, and we have to do whatever we can to maintain that public support. That means doing it in the least-cost manner.” Baker said the state hasn’t seen rate hikes like these since the 1970s. …
California’s largest utility, Pacific Gas and Electric, raised its rates over the winter by an average of about $34 per month, or a 127 percent increase over 10 years. A fifth of its customers are behind on their bills, according to an analysis from Baker’s office. The state’s two other major investor-owned utilities are also seeking increases.