December 3, 2024 Breaking News, Latest News, and Videos

Will California Power Companies Start “Robbing The ‘Hood’”?:

For decades, Californians who use the most electricity have paid extra for that privilege, on the theory that high prices might provide an incentive for them to use less.

This system is designed to allow all ratepayers enough power for basic needs at very low prices, with the extra energy needed to run things like Jacuzzis and charge items like Tesla sedans coming at a premium price.

One typical Southern California Edison bill for the month of February showed up to 314 kilowatt hours costing just over 12 cents each, for a total of $40.06, while the top tier of that same bill had 135 kilowatt hours priced at almost 30 cents each, for a total of just over $50, about 25 percent more for only about 40 percent as much power included in the bottom tier.

Transmission costs for all rate categories were about 8.5 cents per kilowatt hour, meaning the difference in the cost of the energy itself was 17 cents between the first power used and the last, a difference of about 400 percent from the bottom tier to the top one.

This may be about to change, as the state Public Utilities Commission considers a proposal by Pacific Gas & Electric Co. to cut the number of payment tiers from four to two, a move that would likely raise the rates of low-usage customers. Yes, that’s the same PG&E indicted for criminal negligence in its fatal mismanagement of natural gas pipelines.

A further change, added to switches in raw pricing, would see discounts available to low-usage (read: poor) customers cut by as much as 20 percent from today’s levels. That’s one reason the current proposals are the very opposite of a Robin Hood plan that would take more from the rich, but rather have been called “robbing the hood.”

If approved for PG&E, it’s almost certain the same rate structure would be imposed soon after in the vast territories of Edison and San Diego Gas & Electric. Typically, systemic changes in utility regulation begin with PG&E and spread to the other companies less than a year later.

Some of this switch is prompted by complaints from electric users in the Central Valley and other high summer heat areas where air conditioning runs up electric bills. The current rate structure sees utilities charge high-use customers more for power than low users, regardless of where they live.

But it’s also quite likely driven by a 2012 legislative conference on Maui, where some lawmakers saw their expenses paid by corporations and/or labor unions.

Rate restructure was pushed there by meeting sponsors, who had great access to legislators of both major parties, including some members of both parties’ leadership. Disclosure documents showed lobbyists there discussed energy rate changes with Assembly Republican leader Connie Conway of Tulare and Republican Fresno area state Sen. Tom Berryhill, for two examples.

Editorialized one newspaper during the conference, “The elected officials…receive the free trips because of…their capacity to affect public policy.”

If the businesses and their union workers, users on average of far more power than almost any household, had even a slight influence on passage of last year’s AB 327, which enables some of the changes now being considered, a few plane tickets will have proven a superb investment for them.

PG&E, in pushing for the rate restructure, says it wants to make prices more sensitive to time of use, with power employed at night or in early morning hours cheaper than kilowatts used in the hottest, highest-use hours of the day.

That’s laudable, and has often been combined into the existing rate structure, which gives preference to small users. But it also could doom many poor, elderly Californians to heatstroke and worse if they can’t afford air conditioning.

If the PUC approves rates favoring big users over small ones, the folks calling this robbing the hood will be proven right. For it would be a classic reverse Robin Hood tactic, robbing the poor and rewarding the rich.

in Opinion
<>Related Posts

SM.a.r.t Column: It’s Time To Inspect Balconies

November 24, 2024

November 24, 2024

About nine years ago, a fifth-floor balcony in a Berkeley apartment building collapsed, tragically killing several students gathered on it...

S.M.a.r.t Column: Your City is Broke

November 18, 2024

November 18, 2024

On December 10, the new City council will be seated fresh from their dominant win in the recent elections. There...

SM.a.r.t Column: Moving Ahead to the Future

November 10, 2024

November 10, 2024

As we write this, the election results are still trickling in. We’ll leave the deep analysis to others, but the...

Opinion: Fact Check: Why Vote Yes on Measure QS

November 1, 2024

November 1, 2024

Despite living in a famously progressive region, Santa Monicans are not immune from the same political misinformation and disinformation that...

SM.a.r.t Column: Lack of Oversight and No Accountability

October 31, 2024

October 31, 2024

S.M.a.r.t. periodically invites guest columnists to write opinion articles on topics of particular interests to our readers. Below is an...

SM.a.r.t Column: “Help! I’ve Fallen, and I …!!”, Cries Santa Monica!

October 25, 2024

October 25, 2024

Maybe fallen, but slipping for sure from being a desirable beachfront community that served all equally, the local residents who...

SM.a.r.t. Column: Vote

October 13, 2024

October 13, 2024

In a polarized country or City every vote counts. Regardless of which side of any issue or candidate you support,...

SM.a.r.t Column: Fact-Checking Election-Season Windbaggery

October 6, 2024

October 6, 2024

Claim: The state is requiring Santa Monica to build 9,000 apartments.Answer: Partially true, partially false. Santa Monica has a pretty...

SM.a.r.t. Column: Public Safety and Traffic Enforcement Can Help Save Lives and Revitalize Santa Monica’s Economy

September 29, 2024

September 29, 2024

We wholeheartedly endorse the candidates below for Santa Monica City Council. Their leading campaign platform is for increased safety in...

SM.a.r.t Column: Crime in Santa Monica: A Growing Concern and the Need for Prioritizing Public Safety

September 22, 2024

September 22, 2024

By Michael Jolly Over the past six months, Santa Monica has experienced a concerning rise in crime, sparking heated discussions...

SM.a.r.t Column: Ten New Commandments

September 15, 2024

September 15, 2024

Starting last week,  the elementary school students of Louisiana will all face mandatory postings of the biblical Ten Commandments in...

SM.a.r.t Column: Santa Monica’s Next City Council

September 8, 2024

September 8, 2024

In the next general election, this November 5th, Santa Monica residents will be asked to vote their choices among an...

SM.a.r.t Column: Part II: The Affordability Crisis: Unmasking California’s RHNA Process and Its Role in Gentrification

September 2, 2024

September 2, 2024

Affordability: An Income and Available Asset Gap Issue, Not a Supply Issue (Last week’s article revealed how state mandates became...

SM.a.r.t Column: Part 1: The Affordability Crisis: Unmasking California’s RHNA Process and Its Role in Gentrification

August 26, 2024

August 26, 2024

In the world of economic policy, good intentions often pave the way to unintended consequences. Nowhere is this more evident...

SM.a.r.t Column: They Want to Build a Wall

August 18, 2024

August 18, 2024

Every once in a while, a topic arises that we had previously written about but doesn’t seem to go away....