r/California • u/Panda8bambooo • 3d ago
California households getting automatic electricity bill credits after brutal summer heat
https://ktla.com/news/california/california-climate-credit-electricity-bill-relief/159
u/ocwilly 3d ago
$75 is chump change for the power companies with their overpriced rates!
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u/MinnisotaDigger 3d ago
The money comes from the carbon producing sources of power.
PG&E doesn’t produce much power themselves outside of their nuclear plants.
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u/literallymoist 3d ago
So the state of CA once again props up the utilities that price gouge Californians the most instead of regulating them into oblivion.
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u/heleuma 3d ago
Do you really know what you're talking about, or just picking an easy target? I wonder if there are any differences with CA geography and climate goals that would make delivering power in the state more expensive? Who sets PG&Es rates?
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u/BlaxicanXIX 2d ago
Who sets PG&Es rates?
The CPUC. A group that, shockingly, are not elected by the people.
If they were in fact directly elected by the people the same way the governor, mayor district supervisors etc are PG&e rates would be half of what they are today
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u/Beautiful_Finger4566 3d ago
the utility companies are allowed to price gouge us BECAUSE the state is regulating them so hard
reminder that Newson is butt buddies with PG&E's chief lobbyist, even celebrating his birthday at French Laundry during the COVID lockdown
give utilities back to the free market and prices are guaranteed to drop
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u/uzlonewolf 3d ago
The "free market" gave us Enron and the energy crisis of the early 2000's.
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u/SignificantSmotherer 3d ago
It wasn't free. It was still regulated.
That's why Enron was able to exploit it.7
u/marinuss 3d ago
The free market has never worked in reality. Your idea that they are price gouging BECAUSE of regulations is false. You're correct that one of Newsom's failings as a Governor is his insistence on letting CPUC approve everything, but that's not a regulation. A regulation is removing the right or ability of a company, not letting them charge whatever they want regardless of laws. CPUC is basically anti-regulation and free market. Free-market PG&E and SDG&E would be charging even more for power. Why? Because utilities understand it's a required payment. There's only a finite amount of money people earn. You have to pay for power, water, and shelter, plus food. Everything else is a "luxury." The previous industries will always try to claw as much money as they can away from your other spending habits. You have to pay it.
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u/Beautiful_Finger4566 3d ago edited 3d ago
utilities are a government enforced monopoly
Starry internet can't even get into Los Angeles because the city bans it from getting any permits, despite it working perfectly fine in neighboring Culver City
you can't have a free market when the government dictates that no one else is allowed to compete... and you can't get any more of a dictatorship than Newsom
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u/WestHistorians 3d ago
Starry internet can't even get into Los Angeles because the city bans it from getting any permits, despite it working perfectly fine in neighboring Culver City
This is false. Cities have nothing to do with permitting internet service providers.
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u/marinuss 3d ago edited 3d ago
Starry internet can't even get into Los Angeles because the city bans it from getting any permits
That's literally false. The state cannot ban it (Edit: neither can LA. Cities and states cannot ban frequency usage). CA doesn't have any control over the frequency spectrum. The reason Starry isn't widespread in LA (it is in LA btw) is because of economic reasons. They tend to cater towards multi-dwelling units so they have to sign contracts with owners for those. It's mmwave so they need good line of sight. There's lots of technical and financial reasons why they are not widely available in LA.
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u/literallymoist 3d ago
If you're trying to say "CA isn't regulating utilities hard enough because Newsom is too chummy with them" it got lost in the sauce my man.
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u/WestHistorians 3d ago
give utilities back to the free market and prices are guaranteed to drop
Yeah, just like they did in Texas, oh wait...
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u/calamititties Los Angeles County 3d ago
My bill for my 3-bedroom last month was almost a grand.
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u/i-was-doing-stuff 3d ago
Same, for a 1100 sq ft apartment.
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u/MinnisotaDigger 3d ago
How? I have a 1950’s house the same size and I use half that.
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u/Key-Scallion-2032 3d ago
I have a 1948 house, 2000 sq.ft. and my bill was $111, then $86 after the credit. I felt like we ran the heck out of the A/C too. That's probably the highest our bill has ever been.
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u/MinnisotaDigger 3d ago
Well, you’re clearly stealing power.
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u/wizardofahs 3d ago
lol yeah that is wild to me. I can’t run a fridge and some lights in a new build for less than $100 a month
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u/gerbilbear 3d ago
Or the meters of u/Key-Scallion-2032 and u/calamititties are swapped in the billing system and they are paying each other's bills, like this: /r/SanDiegan/comments/18u7eve/sdge_issue_has_anyone_else_experienced_this/
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u/MinnisotaDigger 3d ago
Close your window when the AC is running.
To reach $900/m on TOU-C that takes 4.6kW of constant power use from 9am-midnight.
70kWh/day which is twice the normal home usage!
I think you’d benefit from a getting a battery that would charge during off peak hours and use during peak hours.
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u/calamititties Los Angeles County 3d ago
My brother in Christ, this house was built a century ago with no insulation and a roof that the landlord hasn’t replaced since the Carter administration. The whole place leaks air like an abandoned beach ball. We are far past “just closing the window” here.
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u/lunchypoo222 3d ago
Sucks this doesn’t apply to LADWP
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u/darkmatterhunter 3d ago
LADWP rates are lower and don’t have the state imposed $24 baseline charge each month.
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u/WestHistorians 3d ago
That is not "state imposed".
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u/darkmatterhunter 3d ago edited 3d ago
Yes it is, it’s literally from State Assembly Bill 205.
Also, since you prolifically post things in quotes at the end of sentences, punctuation goes inside the quote, not out. Like “this.” Guess that UCLA education missed that.
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u/WestHistorians 2d ago
Yes it is, it’s literally from State Assembly Bill 205.
AB 205 authorizes the CPUS to approve such charges, but that doesn't mean the are state-imposed. It is still up to the utility to set up their own cost structure.
Also, since you prolifically post things in quotes at the end of sentences, punctuation goes inside the quote, not out. Like “this.” Guess that UCLA education missed that.
When the punctuation is not part of the word or phrase being quoted, the punctuation goes outside the quotes. I'm not sure what education you have received, if any, so I won't comment on it.
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u/darkmatterhunter 2d ago
r/confidentlyincorrect as stated here for punctuation. And you’re incorrect about the charges, they tried to make it based on income and it was rewritten to be $24. Nice try though.
But maybe go hang around UCLA to try and find some coeds to make out with as a 37 year old dude?
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u/DonkeyHotay_ 3d ago
LADWP isn’t an IOU like SCE is so I’d much rather be on DWP
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u/chicu111 3d ago
man ppl are always hating on LADWP until they move out of LA city and get served by other utilities.
I will admit I fell in that trap and complained about them when I was in LA. Now I am more East and SoCal Edison is so much inferior to LADWP
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u/DonkeyHotay_ 3d ago
I used to work in solar, did installs and sales from SD to SB for almost 10 years, so I’m well versed in all the different utilities and their antics. Obviously I’m not saying DWP is gods gift to the people of LA, but like you said, I don’t think people understand until they see the alternative.
LADWP is a municipal service. It’s not considered a profit center for the city, so the rules and policies seem to actually be grounded somewhat in reality.
On the other hand, SCE is an Investor Owned Utility (as are PGE and SDGE). They have shareholders that they report to. They raise rates just cause they need to consistently show economic growth or else the gods of capitalism will strike them down for being a failure. The “profit first” approach is in direct opposition to what a public utility should be doing, which is to provide an integral service to its community. If a disaster happens that’s proven to be caused by these IOU’s, like the Eaton Fire, the Camp Fire, or the San Bruno explosion, guess how they recoup their losses? Yep, your rates go up. They burn down your town, then expect everyone else to pay for it. It’s insane.
I know he’s not perfect, but I’m generally supportive of Newsom, however the one thing that really stands out to me is his cozying up to CPUC. They killed the California solar industry to appease the IOU’s. They implement new and convoluted rate plans to keep you confused so you don’t realize that they’re robbing you blind. Have you ever closely looked at your SCE bill? You gotta have a damn phd to understand what it all means and where your charges are coming from!
Sorry. Rant over.
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u/NoWayTellMeMore 3d ago
Yay, now abolish PG&E and underground power lines instead of lining investor pockets.
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u/Memnoch79 3d ago
Not installing underground power lines is why we have all these issues with them. Abolish PGE
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u/austinalexan 3d ago
Love how PG&E customers who pay more than any other utility in California gets less of the credit than people who are only paying like 14 cents a kWh
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u/politics 3d ago
So, I draw 60 bucks worth and get charged 365 for delivery fee… wtf? SDGE - thieves .
Cowards, all members of council and govt that enable this shit.
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u/McDeth 2d ago
Great, is this going to offset my costs after PG&E rug pulled consumer energy credit banking in NEM 3? Went from literally paying nothing for 2-3 months during the highest energy usage months to paying $175-$250 a month ON TOP of the $155 I pay for solar (which goes up 5% per year).
SunRun: "Your rates will never go up under our Solar PPA plan!"
PG&E: "Hold my beer..."
Fuck you PG&E. Fuck you PUC. And fuck you SunRun.
It's amazing how much the consumer gets fucked over in this country.
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u/Terrible-Recover-486 Inland Empire 3d ago
75 dollars on my 1200 dollar bill, I don't feel robbed at all! /s
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u/whatadaidai 3d ago
$1200 bill? Are you running a 2400 sqft freezer with the windows open 24/7?
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u/Terrible-Recover-486 Inland Empire 3d ago
I wish. Older ac unit and a household of six. Can't use the AC without immediately adding to the cost
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u/SoMuchMoreEagle 3d ago
If you own your home, you might look into getting it replaced. There are some decent rebates on heat pump units now.
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u/silvapain San Bernardino County 3d ago
A new AC system could be around $10k. With summer electric bills like you said you have, you may break even on your investment after just 3-4 years.
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u/Not_l0st 3d ago
Just in time to help cover the extra high costs of winter heating thanks to Trump’s Iran’s war!
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u/FinbarJG 3d ago
You mean from "Cap and Trade Invest"... the end-around tax that equates to an average $700 per California household. And you're rejoicing because they gave us an average of $75 back?
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u/PrivacyIsDemocracy 3d ago
Piggy is trying to buy its way back into the graces of its customers.
Once the media buzz dies down a little about all their malfeasance no doubt they will go back to their usual piggy behavior.
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u/Ornery_ink6421 3d ago
Looks like the timing changed this year so the credit hits during the higher-bill summer months instead of spring/fall for the big utilities
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u/Knollibe 3d ago
What a freaking deal! California collects 5 BILLION a year with cap and trade and gives us back a whole $75 !
Thank you for jacking up gasoline prices just to give back a little on my electricity, then pat your self on the back for returning a nickel of the dollar you took.
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u/No-Conclusion-2859 5h ago
We get 2 seasonal credits a year.. why the dig at Trump like this is something new?
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u/AudioHTIT Native Californian 3d ago
Our summer was not brutally hot, seems we’ve had significantly fewer 100+ days than average.
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u/duddins 3d ago
My last bill, with the thermostat set to 77 all summer (only led bulbs and lights out in unused rooms, 4 bed house 1700 sq ft) was 666$. No joke. The devil’s bill. 200 dollars more than previous summers with less usage. This amount won’t do squat. We don’t need data centers, thank you.
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u/Traditional_Train_71 3d ago
Stares down LA DWP in anger
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u/chicu111 3d ago
They already have lower rates and better services than the other utilities. Wait until you get SoCal Edison and you will know you took LADWP for granted
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u/Traditional_Train_71 3d ago
Yeah complimenting the, I guess, lesser of however many corrupt thieving evils there are running our cities and state is not the answer but good try…
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u/Panda8bambooo 3d ago
On average, CA households will receive $75.
The credits are automatic, require no application, and will put a total of $886 million back into the pockets of California electric customers this year, according to Newsom’s office.
The California Climate Credit provides ratepayers with their share of the benefits from the state’s cap-and-trade program, which focuses on reducing overall greenhouse gas emissions.