As homeowners decorate their houses for the holiday season, Californians may notice an unprecedented spike in their electricity bills. The cost of living is already expensive enough, with mortgages, car payments, monthly groceries and so on. Some major monthly costs can be attributed to the electricity bill. Light and electricity are basic necessities for a survivable living environment. The Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) is a major utilities company in California responsible for electricity. Unfortunately, the company holds too much power over California residents without competitors.
Those who are not financially secure and stable enough to pay the increasing electric bills will start to struggle to survive and live comfortably due to these increased rates. PG&E has become a monopoly in California and should not be able to raise its electricity bill prices with no sign of stopping or any way to ensure the cost is fair. PG&E should be held accountable for their electricity costs and increased rates. A solution to this problem is ensuring that policies are dictating a cap on electricity bill prices to prevent PG&E from taking advantage of their power. The California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) is responsible for regulating PG&E, but it appears that their reach doesn’t extend far enough.
Angelica Vasquez, a Bay Area resident, has spoken out about how PG&E has played a part in causing financial burden and turmoil due to their unreasonable and virtually unregulated electricity bills. After PG&E shut off the power in her home, her family was forced to live the day without power, spoiling their family’s groceries. Vasquez and her family are only a few of California’s millions who have fallen victim to increasing electric prices. Lower-income households are already struggling to pay their overwhelming bills as is, and increasing the bills on top of already unfair prices makes California an increasingly unlivable place to live. PG&E should be taking into consideration the needs of low-income communities.
In addition to the more severe and life-threatening implications of the PG&E monopoly, there will be further consequences. Simple joys that boost morale and lift spirits, such as putting up Christmas lights, are not affordable with raised electricity costs. With life’s yearly stresses and hardships, this time of the year is needed to spread joy. A big tradition for families celebrating the holiday season is putting up Christmas lights to brighten their spirits. Raising electricity bill prices is making Christmas lights unaffordable. The Grinch isn’t the only one stealing Christmas.
The reasons that PG&E uses to justify its increases are the “safety” and “reliability” of its electric services, which implies that they have been charging customers what were still astronomical prices for unsafe and unreliable electricity. Another reason they wanted to increase prices is to pay for a project to invest in underground electric lines to decrease wildfire risk. Although decreasing the risk of wildfires is important, PG&E is taking advantage of the market with these increased rates.
As the leading supplier of utilities in California and a private company, they are left unchecked, able to increase the cost of utilities unfairly and with no accountability. They do not have any incentive to minimize the costs of their projects, which harms California taxpayers. Furthermore, people have no other choice but to comply with price increases. Safe, reliable and wildfire-free electricity should not be an extra feature. It should already be included in PG&E’s electricity services. PG&E is taking advantage of Californians and doing it with virtually no pushback. There is no excuse.
