Random observations about record-setting PG&E profits as I try avoid burning the midnight oil, because who can afford leaving the lights on at night these days?
• Reaction to the latest PG&E profits has been swift and furious. Just a few hours after the story and our editorial were published, I’ve gotten an earful from readers with comments ranging from “call them what they are — a criminal enterprise” to “every single customer needs to join together and refuse to pay their bill. What are they going to do?”
For today, I’m going to join each of you in complaining about big PG&E bills — and also invite you to tell me about yours for a follow-up column next week.
Four years ago, our little home in the country included myself, my wife and her two sons. Our PG&E bill averaged around $200 a month, often in the $170 range. This was with four people taking daily showers, doing oodles of laundry, running four computers and two televisions, and doing it all on, shall we say, less-than-energy-efficient appliances.
Since that time, the boys have grown into men and moved out on their own. Our nest is down to two people and one TV. In the past three years, we have replaced the washer, dryer, refrigerator, freezer, air conditioner, oven and dishwasher with new energy-efficient models.
Our PG&E bill last month was $527.88 — up almost exactly $300 from just 11 months ago.
But wait. It gets worse.
For one, I don’t bother to take a shower every day anymore (my apologies for that), and we’re doing far less laundry than ever before. We also take part in that PG&E “peak period” nonsense where you agree not to run your appliances during high-demand periods for a better rate. (Like, say, summer, when it’s 112 degrees. Yes, folks, this very column is often produced with a great deal of actual sweat involved.)
Also, we don’t burn any natural gas. We heat the home in the winter with a wood-burning fireplace.
Five hundred and twenty seven dollars and 88 cents, whereas going back over a seven-year period, the average was around $200.
We’re at a loss to understand this. Half as many people in the house, every appliance replaced and almost three times as large of a bill? I’d think it has to be some kind of mistake, except I’m hearing similar stories from so many of you.
• Just to note one: An old friend told me her 85-year-old mother is in the CARE program and lives on a fixed income. Her PG&E bill last month was over $800.
• Is this a good time to remind everybody that company officials are slapping themselves on the back this week for “our story of progress” following news their profits jumped 24.6% in a year, to $2.24 billion — and that they’re expecting even bigger returns in the following year?
• Of all the unmitigated gall to emerge from the company’s announcements, this may have been the one that struck the most chilling chord: “Our story of progress continued in 2023, including further reducing wildfire ignitions.”
Ever stop to wonder who ends up in a position to brag about “reducing” the number of wildfire ignitions? Yep, only companies that caused an abhorrent number of wildfire ignitions in the first place. That strikes me as an odd thing to celebrate.
• And, ultimately, isn’t that the biggest frustration with all of this? PG&E raised its rates in 2018, and 2019, and 2021, and again in 2023, with yet another 13% increase hitting us on January 1 of this year. Most of those increases came post-Camp Fire under the guise of the utility needing additional money to improve its infrastructure and fire safety — things PG&E had badly neglected for far too long.
It’s one thing to pay through the nose because of a company’s deadly mistakes. Watching the company enjoy record-setting profits as a result of those rate increases is something else.
• In fairness, a reminder for kindness here: The people you see in the blue trucks doing all of the actual work for PG&E are not your enemy. Be kind to them. Too often, customers’ anger is directed at them. They don’t deserve that any more than the rest of us deserve to get fleeced by their employer.
If you’ve got a horror story about your PG&E bill — or, even if you’ve got something nice to say about the company — please email it to editor Mike Wolcott at mwolcott@chicoer.com. We’ll print a sampling of the responses in this space next week.
