California PUC Proposes Time of Use Rates for Residential Customers
January 30, 2014
Energy Division staff of the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) has released a proposal that fundamentally alters residential electric rates in that state.
The electricity pricing system may be fundamentally changed by 2018. Under the current system, pricing is focused on the amount of power consumed. Under the proposal, pricing for electric usage will be adjusted based on the time it is used. If adopted, the proposal provides for a gradual transition to default time of use rates starting in 2018, with optional non-time varying rates that customers can select. The proposal also includes robust customer education and customer friendly protections.
The San Francisco Chronicle has reported that, under the proposal, a “typical Pacific Gas and Electric Co. customer using 600 kilowatt-hours of electricity per month currently pays $75.05. …. If that customer doesn’t change her energy-use habits, switching to ‘time-of-use’ rates would boost her bill by 16 percent, to $87.43. The [CPUC] estimates that choosing the revised flat rates instead would raise the customer’s bill to $85.04, a 13 percent increase. Homeowners with the highest current bills, in contrast, would pay less under the new system.”[1]
The proposed changes would affect the state’s large, investor-owned utilities, not municipal utilities. The changes would need to be approved by CPUC to take effect. That vote could come in 2014. The CPUC proposal was filed in proceeding R.12-06-013 and is available at:
https://docs.cpuc.ca.gov/PublishedDocs/Efile/G000/M084/K817/84817577.PDF
This Eckert Seamans Energy and Utilities Blog is intended to keep readers current on matters affecting businesses and is not intended to be legal advice. If you have any questions about the content of this post, please contact Dan Clearfield at (717) 237-7173 / dclearfield@eckertseamans.com or Deanne O’Dell at 717.255.3744 / dodell@eckertseamans.com
[1] https://www.sfchronicle.com/news/article/Sweeping-changes-sought-for-electricity-bills-5132820.php