Erin Stone
covers climate and environmental issues in Southern California.
Published April 4, 2024 11:55 AM
The sun shines behind electrical power lines during a heat wave.
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Patrick T. Fallon
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AFP via Getty Images
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Topline:
California state regulators have issued a proposal that would lower electricity rates and add a fixed monthly charge of about $24 to most Southern California Edison and San Diego Gas & Electric customers’ bills (though qualifying low-income households would see smaller charges of $6 or $12). The proposal marks a shift — for now — from an income-graduated fixed charge proposed last year.
What it means: The change is estimated to have relatively modest savings for the average Southern California Edison customer, though more in hotter areas where energy use is higher — for example about $30 in the summer months. For those with an electrified home with solar, an electric vehicle or other home electrification, average savings of $28 to $44 a month are estimated in comparison to the current billing structure.
Why it matters: California has some of the highest electricity rates in the nation and costs are expected to increase as the state transitions from fossil fuels to cleaner energy such as solar and wind, which requires a massive investment in electric infrastructure, while also hardening the grid against more extreme weather. A fixed charge can help lower electric rates, but some worry the savings in rates won’t be enough and that some middle-income homes may end up paying more.
What’s next: The proposed decision is expected to be up for a vote at the CPUC’s meeting on May 9. The public can submit comments on the proposal in the meantime.
California state regulators have issued a proposal that would lower electricity rates and add a fixed monthly charge of about $24 to most Southern California Edison and San Diego Gas & Electric customers’ bills.
The proposal, which also includes the other large investor-owned utility in the state, Pacific Gas & Electric, marks a shift — at least for now — from an income-graduated fixed charge proposed last year.
The proposal aims to help address rising electricity rates as we shift off fossil fuels to an electric future powered by cleaner energy sources such as solar and wind, but, there are concerns that it could raise expenses for some lower to middle-income households and that the savings for most households would not be significant enough to promote electrification.
What the proposal says
If approved by the California Public Utilities Commission, or CPUC, starting in late 2025:
Most Southern California Edison customers would see a flat charge on their bill of $24.15 regardless of how much electricity they use or what their income level is. (This is largely in the middle of previous proposals — Southern California Edison had suggested the fixed charge be $51 per month, while a solar industry trade group had proposed the lowest charge at $9.72 per month.)
Households registered with the California Alternate Rates for Energy (CARE) low-income assistance program would see a flat charge of $6.
And households registered with the Family Electricity Rate Assistance (FERA) program, as well as people who live in deed-restricted affordable housing with incomes at or below 80% of the area median income, would see a flat charge of $12. (Learn more about these low-income assistance programs here).
Electricity rates would then be lowered by 5 to 7 cents per kilowatt hour, according to a fact sheet from the California Public Utilities summarizing the 265-page proposed decision. The proposal basically rearranges how fixed costs we already pay through our rates are distributed.
The proposals for a fixed charge from various groups that have been heavily involved in the CPUC's rulemaking process.
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Courtesy of CPUC
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LAist
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What is the CPUC?
The California Public Utilities Commission is a state agency that regulates privately owned public utilities in California, including electricity providers such as Southern California Edison, natural gas companies such as SoCal Gas, as well as telecommunications and water companies. The five commissioners are appointed by the Governor. Learn more here.
What the changes mean
The change is estimated to have relatively modest savings for the average Southern California Edison customer, though more in hotter areas where energy use is higher — for example about $30 in the summer months. For those with an electrified home with solar, an electric vehicle or other home electrification, you can expect to save $28 to $44 a month compared to what you are paying now, according to the CPUC.
The fixed cost would go toward maintaining and expanding the power grid for more electrification, hardening it against wildfire and other weather, energy efficiency programs, low-income bill assistance programs, and more. Already, a large chunk of what we pay in our electric bills is for such fixed costs, unrelated to our electricity use, but utilities had previously only been able to address these costs by raising rates.
California has some of the highest electricity rates in the nation. The average price per kilowatt hour of electricity for SoCal Edison customers is about 36 cents, compared with the national average of 17 cents.
Most utilities across the nation use a fixed charge as part of their billing, with the median nationwide being about $12. For example, the L.A. Department of Water and Power has a fixed charge of $12.
The CPUC’s Public Advocate’s Office, a state agency that advocates for the public in such decisions, said in a statement that the proposed decision is “a critical step to addressing affordability and advancing electrification in California.”
They also say the current electric rate structure, which largely has those fixed costs folded into the rate, punishes households in hotter regions or with more people in the same household, and ultimately disincentivizes folks to switch to more efficient, climate-friendly electric appliances. They believe the changes will further electrification, particularly for low-income households.
Others worry that the fixed charge will only punish households that are most frugal with electricity use, and that some lower- to middle-income households could actually see their savings canceled out or costs increased. For example, according to an analysis by Sierra Club associate attorney Nihal Shrinath, a low-income customer who pays $95 or less on their bill could see higher bills from a fixed charge, since a $12 fixed charge would cancel out the savings from the reduced rate.
The Sierra Club also emphasized in a statement that the proposal charges the same fixed rate for households making $50,000 a year as those of multi-millionaires.
“Regulators need to correct course to deliver a progressive proposal that places appropriate fixed charges to high-income Californians, and delivers deeper savings to households that need it,” Theo Caretto, associate attorney with L.A.-based grassroots environmental justice group Communities for a Better Environment, said in a statement.
The income-based rate effort had faced pushback for financial privacy concerns and concerns that middle-income homes, and homes with solar panels, could also be charged more.
How to get involved
The proposed decision is expected to be up for a vote at the CPUC’s meeting on May 9. The public can submit comments on the proposal in the meantime. You can do that by going to this link, and then selecting the Public Comments tab.
You can also mail a comment to CPUC Public Advisor, 505 Van Ness Ave., San Francisco, CA, 94102. Or you can speak during the public comment period of the voting meeting scheduled for May 9, which begins at 11 a.m.
How Do Public Comments Inform Decision-Making?
CPUC Commissioners and Administrative Law Judges read public comments to gain information about the public’s concerns and needs, such as the impact a rate increase will have on their lives.
Jordan Rynning
has been following this case for months, including interviewing the man at the center of allegations.
Published October 31, 2026 7:00 AM
Michael Angel Alvarez, 41, spoke with LAist on Sept. 16, 2026, about the federal body armor case against him being dismissed.
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Jordan Rynning
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LAist
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Topline:
The L.A. County District Attorney’s office dropped its felony body armor charges against Michael Angel Alvarez earlier this week. Alvarez was sentenced to time served on a lesser charge — a probation violation. He served more than 100 days in jail earlier this year while awaiting trial.
Most serious claims haven’t materialized: Though federal prosecutors made headlines claiming in court documents and on social media that Alvarez was “leading a violent street gang, while claiming to be a gang interventionist for the City,” they have not filed charges related to those claims.
The Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office dropped its felony body armor charges against Michael Angel Alvarez on Wednesday. Alvarez was sentenced to time served on a lesser charge — a probation violation. He had served more than 100 days in jail earlier this year while awaiting trial.
Why Alvarez’s arrest made headlines: Alvarez was working as a city-contracted peace ambassador in MacArthur Park when he was arrested by federal agents in May. Federal and county prosecutors each brought felony charges against him, claiming he was in possession of body armor as a violent felon.
Bill Essayli, who leads the U.S. Attorney’s office in L.A., pointed to the case on social media to criticize city officials for allowing taxpayer money to be “shelled out to a convicted gang murderer.”
About his criminal record: Judges in federal and state court have now dismissed prosecutors’ felony charges against Alvarez, after U.S. District Judge Anne Hwang found on Sept. 9 that Alvarez did not have a violent felony conviction. Alvarez was 15 when he committed a gang-related murder. He was tried and convicted as an adult in 2002. After a change in state law increased the age at which minors could be sentenced as adults to 16, Alvarez’s case was sent back to juvenile court, and he was released in 2024. At that point, he had served more than 20 years.
A federal judge ruled Tuesday, Oct. 7 that Republican Bill Essayli is not legally serving as the top U.S. prosecutor in Los Angeles.
The ruling is the latest roadblock to the Trump administration’s effort to extend handpicked acting U.S. attorneys beyond the 120-day limit set by federal law. The strategy was designed to bypass confirmation by the U.S. Senate — something that generally requires a degree of bipartisan support.
Essayli “is unlawfully serving as a ‘de facto’ United States Attorney,” U.S. District Judge J. Michael Seabright wrote.
The order won’t take effect until the court rules on the government’s motion for a stay pending appeal. Essayli said he doesn’t agree with the court’s order. He said the president and Attorney General “have every right to select supervisors within the Justice Department.”
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Mariana Dale
explores and explains the forces that shape how and what kids learn from kindergarten to high school.
Published October 31, 2026 5:00 AM
Myrna Velasco (left) performs as Dolores Huerta in “¡Sí Se Puede!” at Boyle Heights City Hall on April 2, 2026.
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Carlin Stiehl
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LAist
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Topline:
An all-ages play about the life of Dolores Huerta and other under-told stories of the farmworker labor movement is back on tour in Los Angeles.
The backstory: Center Theatre Group commissioned ¡Sí Se Puede! from Eliana Pipes in March 2025 and it debuted in L.A. this spring. “There's this perception that farm work was only done by men,” Pipes said. “There were women on the fields, there were women on the picket lines, and there were women in leadership in the United Farm Workers movement.”
An all-ages play about the life of Dolores Huerta and other under-told stories of the farmworker labor movement is back on tour in Los Angeles.
The show's extension had been announced prior to the news that Huerta died Wednesday, Oct. 28., at her Bakersfield home. She was 96 years old.
“There's this perception that farm work was only done by men,” said playwright Eliana Pipes. “There were women on the fields, there were women on the picket lines, and there were women in leadership in the United Farm Workers movement.”
Center Theatre Group commissioned ¡Sí Se Puede! from Pipes in March 2025 and it debuted in L.A. this spring.
CSULA seeks memories from underground music scenes
Adolfo Guzman-Lopez
is an arts and general assignment reporter on LAist's Explore LA team.
Published October 31, 2026 5:00 AM
CSULA is seeking memorabilia from LA's underground music scenes for its research archives.
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Courtesy Special Collections and Archives, University Library, California State University, Los Angeles.
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Topline
There’s a whole world of underground Southern California music history that’s hidden in storage boxes — photos, fliers, cassettes and other memorabilia. Research librarians at the California State University, Los Angeles are holding a community archive event on Nov. 5 to ensure the cultural memory of L.A.’s underground music scenes are preserved for future generations.
Why it matters: The memorabilia are the physical remnants of the supportive L.A. communities built around music and enjoyment. But many of these objects languish out of sight, and run the risk of being lost, along with the memories attached to them.
Why now: For four years, archive staff have held an annual day to receive ephemera from the public. They're doing it again on Thursday, Nov. 5.
Read on… to hear how goth, rockabilly and other underground clubs in L.A. inspired the head archivist.
Right around the year 2000, there was a club night in Hollywood called Clockwork Orange. Fans of The Smiths, Depeche Mode, Bauhaus and other bands came for the DJ’s mix of their favorite songs but also for a vibe that welcomed people regardless of race, ethnicity or sexual and gender identity.
“I was a pretty shy person, and so that was a place where I could sort of be myself and express myself,” said Azalea Camacho, a regular there in those days.
She had just graduated from Workman High School in the City of Industry and was also clubbing at rockabilly music nights in Rosemead and goth club nights in downtown L.A.
Camacho said there was lots of memorabilia from those times, such as photos taken in and outside the clubs, ticket stubs and promotional fliers. They're the physical remnants of those supportive communities built around music and enjoyment, but many of them languish in shoeboxes and storage units, at risk of being lost — along with the memories attached to them.
Cal State LA has hosted Sounds of the Underground Archive for the last four years. It's an opportunity for people to donate their underground music scene memorabilia.
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Courtesy Special Collections and Archives, University Library, California State University, Los Angeles
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“I think the danger is maybe those stories are not being told, or people don't know about the story,” she said.
Keeping stories alive
More than two decades later, Camacho is now in a position to make sure those stories are kept alive. She’s head of special collections and archives at the university library at California State University, Los Angeles.
Four years ago, she and library staff created an annual day for area residents to donate or digitize memorabilia for their Sounds of the Underground Archive. This year it's on Thursday, Nov. 5. They’ll accept physical donations, but they’ll also have a scanner to digitize printed material, so people can keep items that are precious to them.
SOUNDS OF THE UNDERGROUND ARCHIVE
Date: Thursday, Nov. 5 Time: 2 p.m. – 5 p.m. Location: Cal State LA Library Community Room, 5151 State University Drive, Los Angeles
Camacho is hoping this year will bring in a bumper amount of memorabilia. It's taken time to get the word out, she said.
“From the actual community archiving day [we’ve collected] maybe 100 or less than 100 items. … It's not a lot,” she said.
She said they're on the lookout for a wide range of mementos, including:
Fliers
Handbills
Zines
Newsletters
Posters
Set lists
Photographs (prints, negatives or digital files)
Cassette tapes, CDs, or vinyl records
Ticket stubs
Wristbands
Band merchandise (stickers, buttons, patches, T-shirts)
DIY press kits or liner notes and correspondence (letters, emails, messages related to music scenes)
Venue or collective ephemera (membership cards, schedules, announcements and more)
