CPUC considers pricing plan that would boost electricity bills for many

Competing plans to overhaul how millions of Californians pay for energy get a hearing Friday in front of the California Public Utilities Commission.

Since the energy crisis in the early 2000s, Californians have paid more for every unit of energy when they use a lot of it. The goal of tiered pricing is to encourage people to use energy wisely.

And the Sierra Club’s Marta Stoepker says it works. “We’re seeing people invest in energy efficiency, rooftop solar, or simply just be smarter with their energy use because if they’re not they’re going to pay more,” she says.

But a proposal brought by Southern California Edison and other utilities would shrink the difference between tiers, so heavier users would pay less than they do now. And those who use less would pay more, which means, according to Stoepker, “90% of them are going to see drastic bill increases, maybe up to 200 dollars a year.”

CPUC Commission President Michael Picker supports that proposed decision. Picker and his team have argued in recent months that tiered pricing doesn’t necessarily encourage conservation, a finding repeated in the proposed decision. And Picker says that high rates for top tiers can have unintended consequences, punishing homes in hot areas where a lot of people crowd under one roof.

Commissioner Mike Florio has called the plan “rate design for the 1 percent.” The Sierra Club, consumer groups, and the state ratepayer advocate together support Florio’s alternate proposal. It preserves three tiers, with the highest 33% above the lowest, to keep heavier users paying more. Both proposals call for a new service fee of at least $10 a month to offset overhead costs for the grid.