18 votes

PG&E rates: new fee would change monthly Californian electricity charges

Posted by skybrian
Tags: energy, usa.ca, electricity, utilities, pg and e, fees, author.kevin truong, source.sfstandard
https://sfstandard.com/2024/03/30/pge-utilities-monthly-fee-charges-rate-hikes/

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Title
What a new fee structure might mean for your monthly PG&E bill
Authors
Kevin Truong
Published
Mar 30 2024
Word count
715 words

5 comments

  1. [5]
    skybrian
    (edited )
    Link
    From the article: ... ... A slightly lower rate will also result in it taking longer for solar panels to pay for themselves, as well as result in people having somewhat less incentive to conserve...

    From the article:

    Amid sharply rising rates that have infuriated local PG&E customers, officials at the California Public Utilities Commission are proposing to create a monthly fixed fee of $24.15 for a large swath of the state’s residents.

    Regulators argue the new fees tweak how utility bills are calculated in a way that would lower overall monthly costs for a majority of low-income households. However, higher-income customers who reside in cooler coastal regions like San Francisco are likely to pay more as an offset.

    ...

    The $24.15 fee was benchmarked to the fixed infrastructure charge currently used by the Sacramento Municipal Utility District. The number is significantly lower than what the utility companies themselves proposed. PG&E and Southern California Edison, for example, pitched a $51 monthly fixed charge.

    ...

    With the introduction of the fixed fee, the per kilowatt-hour cost of electricity would decrease by 10%-13% for a typical PG&E customer.

    A slightly lower rate will also result in it taking longer for solar panels to pay for themselves, as well as result in people having somewhat less incentive to conserve energy. However, I'm not sure how much difference that makes, since nowadays, most people aren't conserving energy solely to get a lower power bill.

    But if the fixed fee goes up in the future, maybe it would encourage people with a lot of solar panels to go off-grid?

    6 votes
    1. [4]
      OBLIVIATER
      Link Parent
      I understand the problems that residential solar cause for grid operators, but its wild to me that the government isn't spending as much money as possible to incentivize personal solar power. It's...

      I understand the problems that residential solar cause for grid operators, but its wild to me that the government isn't spending as much money as possible to incentivize personal solar power. It's quite literally the only chance we have going forward to transition to EVs as there's 0 chance our current electrical grid can support even a large fraction of EV vehicles charging every night. Residential local solar and storage is one of our best shots at decarbonization.

      5 votes
      1. [3]
        skybrian
        Link Parent
        The tradeoff between residential and utility-scale solar isn't so clear, though. A big field of solar panels will be more efficient to maintain. I do think it often makes sense to distribute the...

        The tradeoff between residential and utility-scale solar isn't so clear, though. A big field of solar panels will be more efficient to maintain.

        I do think it often makes sense to distribute the batteries so people have backup power.

        3 votes
        1. [2]
          OBLIVIATER
          Link Parent
          I like the simplicity of residential solar a lot, its very attractive. It minimizes transmission losses and lowers the need for higher capacity transmission lines; not to mention provides some...

          I like the simplicity of residential solar a lot, its very attractive. It minimizes transmission losses and lowers the need for higher capacity transmission lines; not to mention provides some energy independence to the average consumer which IMHO is a good thing. I'm not sure if its 100% the most efficient solution possible, but it feels like the correct one.

          3 votes
          1. skybrian
            Link Parent
            The expense of upgrading transmission lines will likely result in utilities exploring more distributed solutions. I'd guess that batteries will help more with that, though? At least one utility...

            The expense of upgrading transmission lines will likely result in utilities exploring more distributed solutions. I'd guess that batteries will help more with that, though? At least one utility wants to do it.

            2 votes