PG&E has asked state regulators to approve another rate hike.
That’s after the California Public Utilities Commission already said in November that the utility could charge customers around $33 more every month, starting in 2024.
This latest request could make electricity and gas bills even more unaffordable in Butte County.
PG&E wants to add another $10 to $30 to the average monthly bill beginning early next year.
The company says the increase is to help pay for winter storm damage and wildfire mitigation.
PG&E CEO Patti Poppe told KQED this month that though rates will go up in 2024, they’ll go down again in the following three years.
Another rate increase would hurt some vulnerable households in Butte County, one of the places where PG&E is least affordable.
It’s also where the utility’s aging equipment sparked the deadly Camp Fire in 2018.
