Lawmaker Says PG&E Requesting Another Rate Increase is ‘Unacceptable’

With the biggest rate jump in its history amounting to new income of $13.8 billion recently approved and slated to take effect in January, the largest utility company in California is now requesting another increase of more than $2 billion. If approved by regulators, 16 million Pacific Gas & Electric—better known as PG&E—customers’ bills would spike again in March. One state lawmaker said the higher prices would negatively impact Californians. “A second proposed rate hike, just a few weeks after their initial request to raise prices was approved by the California Public Utilities Commission, is utterly unacceptable,” Assemblyman Carlos Villapudua (D-Stockton) told The Epoch Times in an email Dec. 13. “California ratepayers, especially seniors and those on a fixed income, have been struggling over recent years to meet the rising cost of living here.”...