Californians' energy bills will be higher in 2024.
Maryna Terletska/Getty Images
Most households' gas and electric bills will increase by about 13%, or $34.50, starting Monday, according to a news release from PG&E Friday. The increase comes as the company's November General Rate Case comes into effect in the new year.
The majority of costs associated with the increase were due to efforts to reduce the risk of events such as gas leaks and wildfires, the company said. This includes laying 1,230 miles of power lines in wildfire-prone areas and installing new technology to detect gas leaks.
Advertising
The article continues below this ad
“The investments we plan in 2024 and beyond are focused on three goals: keeping our energy system safe and reliable for our customers, meeting growing energy needs and adding even more renewable energy to our energy mix,” says Carla Peterman , executive vice president of corporate affairs at PG&E, said the press release. “At the same time, we are intensely focused on finding new ways of working so that we can keep future bill increases at or below a broader, long-term inflation rate of 2% to 4%.”
PG&E first submitted a rate increase proposal to the California Public Utilities Commission in June 2021. The CPUC approved a 12.8% increase in November, compared to PG&E's requested 17.9% increase.
The GRC, which takes effect Monday, will increase customers' bills by an average of 3.6% over the next three years, PG&E's news release said. This upcoming increase follows a year of higher utility bill costs, including a spike since last February that sent customers' bills soaring by about $79 a month amid colder-than-usual temperatures.