Source: California Senate Democratic Caucus | By EIN Presswire

“TURN is very pleased to see SB 327 make it to the governor’s desk. Preventing utilities from using ratepayer money to stop municipalization and protecting the Public Advocates Office’s right to investigate utilities for compliance with the law is more important now than ever before. At a time of skyrocketing utility bills, people deserve to choose a lower cost option like a municipal utility,” said Adria Tinnin, director of Race Equity and Legislative Policy for TURN. “We thank Sen. McNerney for this important legislation and urge Governor Newsom to stand with California families and businesses and sign SB 327 into law.” 

The California Legislature today approved Sen. Jerry McNerney’s SB 327, which would protect ratepayers by strengthening oversight of investor-owned utilities (IOUs) and barring IOUs from using ratepayer funds to fight local efforts to create municipal utilities. 

Source: FOX 2 KTVU | By Tom Vacar

"The decision that the CPUC is about to make, PG&E could raise your monthly bill $50 or more a month," said Mark Toney, the executive director of The Utility Reform Network (TURN).  Over the lifetime of the decision —  up to 20 years — TURN calculates that each customer's portion could be around $18,000.

The California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) plans to unveil a proposed decision concerning PG&E's requested rate hikes.  The utility company says the increases are crucial as it aims to bury 10,000 miles of power lines as a preventative measure against wildfires in high-risk regions. This increase is substantial.

Source: SF Gate | By Anabel Sosa

Mark Toney, the executive director of the Utility Reform Network, a nonprofit legal advocacy network, told SFGATE in an email that there are still questions about the specifics of Becerra’s plan but that it is “encouraging” to see the candidate’s commitment to bringing down the price of electricity. “While we are unsure how much ratepayers might benefit from two free hours of electricity, we are eager to learn more about the proposal,” Toney said.

During midday in California, the state’s solar grid produces so much energy that, sometimes, it can’t even use it all. It’s a good problem to have, and one that the leading Democratic candidate governor thinks could be a boon to low-income households. At a recent summit hosted by Politico, Xavier Becerra said he wants to offer free electricity from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. for those who qualify, possibly saving them upward of $1,000 annually.

Source: Canary Media | By Jeff St. John

SB 905 represents an important, if somewhat incremental, next step on those efforts, said Matthew Freedman, senior staff attorney at The Utility Reform Network (TURN), one of the state’s most vocal utility ratepayer advocacy groups and a sponsor of the bill. Among the bill’s provisions, a ​“lower return on equity is a pretty big one,” he said.  Utilities earn guaranteed rates of profit on capital investments, which puts upward pressure on customer rates. Anything that can reduce that rate of ​“return on equity,” or ROE, could help limit those increases, he said. A number of states are targeting utilities’ ROE to combat rising rates — and utilities are, not surprisingly, fighting back against the idea.

California lawmakers are once again contending with how to curb the state’s high energy costs as they hurtle toward the end of this year’s legislative session on Aug. 31. So what’s on the table for utility rate reform in the final stretch?  Enter Senate Bill 905, a complicated package of proposals that are likely to face intense opposition from utilities, which tend to reflexively resist rules that could crimp their profits. 

Source: Yahoo!Finance | By Kim LaCapria

Mark Toney, executive director of nonprofit consumer advocacy group The Utility Reform Network, described electricity bills as having "high volatility," according to the newspaper.

Forecasters expected the Central Valley to get close to 110 degrees and parts of the Bay Area to climb into the low 100s.  In a state that already has some of the highest electricity prices in the country, that kind of heat can make air conditioning a major financial burden for families trying to stay safe.

Source: San Francisco Chronicle | By Jessica Roy

California has the second-highest electricity costs of any state in the U.S. Mark Toney, the executive director of nonprofit consumer advocacy group The Utility Reform Network, said high rates and fluctuating weather patterns can make monthly bills unpredictable.  Electricity bills “have high volatility,” he said. “They can go up very quickly, before you know it, based on the weather that you really have very little control over.”

If you or another full-time resident in your home relies on energy for a medical need — for instance, if you use a respirator, oxygen generator, powered wheelchair, dialysis machine or apnea monitor, or if you need a refrigerator to keep medicine such as insulin cold, or depend on heating or cooling for conditions like multiple sclerosis or scleroderma — you are eligible to receive an extra monthly allotment of energy at the lower baseline price. Eligibility is based on medical need, not income. 

Source: San Francisco Chronicle | By Mark Toney, Executive Director of TURN (contributor)

PG&E is seeking to charge California ratepayers billions for outstanding costs, which will soon show up on our electricity bills. The utility has also requested and is expected to collect on several additional pending proposals to raise rates over the coming years and has $1.05 billion sitting in memorandum accounts that will be billed to ratepayers. This includes billions of dollars for wildfire mitigation, grid upgrades and other investments — as well as the hefty profit margins the utility is allowed to collect.

PG&E claims its rates are stabilizing. The numbers say otherwise.  According to an independent assessment by the California Public Utilities Commission’s Public Advocates Office, the state’s advocate for ratepayers, the average PG&E customer could pay $840 more annually by 2030, on top of the 69% rate increase during the past decade.

Source: KQED | By Matthew Green

But Lee Trotman, with The Utility Reform Network, said PG&E enjoyed record profits last year — of $2.47 billion — and shouldn’t need to raise rates to further satisfy its investors. “The overall message is that rates have gone up without fail,” he said. “They’re doing everything they can to make shareholders happy at the cost of ratepayers.”

The increasingly steep cost of keeping the lights on and the heat flowing comes as PG&E last week asked California regulators if it could increase the rate of return for its investors, to 11.3%, up a percentage point from the current limit — a move that would result in yet another rate hike.

Source: Sacramento Bee| By Stephen Hobbs & Kate Wolffe

“I’m absolutely stunned by the size of the increase they are requesting,” said Mark Toney, executive director of The Utility Reform Network, also known as TURN. “We have an affordability crisis, they reported record-breaking profits two years in a row.”

Pacific Gas and Electric Co. wants to increase the amount of profit its investors can make, a move that could raise bills by roughly $5.50 per month for residential customers starting in 2026. The request is likely to add even more frustration with the company among customers and legislators at the Capitol.

Source: KRON 4 Bay Area| By Rob Nesbitt

On Thursday, PG&E sent a request to California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) asking to increase customers’ bills by $5.50 a month. If approved, the rate hike would take effect in January 2026. That doesn’t sit well with Executive Director of the Utility Reform Network, Mark Toney. “I am absolutely stunned that PG&E would ask for such a huge increase in their profits for shareholders,” Toney told KRON4. Toney says the changes to your electric bills would give PG&E the highest profit rate of any utility company in the country. “The CPUC should reject the increase that PG&E is asking for,” he said. The proposed increase would come on top of the $3 a month increase that customers are experiencing this year. The Utility Reform Network wants to see changes to PG&E equipment, not monthly bills. “Insulate your overhead power lines, because it only costs one fifth of burying them underground and that’s going to save rate payers money,” Toney said. Toney says that this request for a price increase is just one of about 10 that the CPUC has on their desk from PG&E.

Pacific Gas & Electric customers could see their bills increase next year by as much as $5.50. That’s what the utility company sent to the California Utilities Commission for approval yesterday. PG&E says that prices are going up because their investors expect to be compensated when providing the utility company with funding. For many customers however, that’s a less-than-satisfactory reason for raising already high rates.

Source: ABC7 San Francisco| By Suzanne Phan

The Utility Reform Network, or TURN, advocates on behalf of ratepayers. "It's unbelievable. I'm floored that PG&E is asking for such a large increase in their rate of profit, their Cost of Capital application," TURN Executive Director Mark Toney said. "They apply every three years to the California Public Utilities Commission. It has to approve how much profit they can make on investments.” Last year, PG&E increased its rates six times. "There were five electricity increases and one natural gas increase," Toney said. The average residential customers paid about $440 more a year, compared to 2023.

Even though PG&E customers pay some of the highest energy bills in the country, even though PG&E has shattered profit records, the utility is now asking the California Public Utilities Commission to raise rates so it could pay investors more. PG&E is asking for an 11.3% return for investors, up a percentage point from the current limit.

Source: KQED| By Danielle Venton

“Here’s the problem,” said Lee Trotman, a spokesperson for the Utility Reform Network, or TURN, “PG&E also recorded record profits last year. For 2024, they recorded $2.47 billion in profits. That’s a record, and they did it by raising rates six times.” He expects the increase, if approved, will cause further distress for PG&E customers, about 20% of whom are behind on their energy bills, according to the CPUC’s Public Advocates Office (PDF). Trotman said TURN will advocate for a lower increase and ask the company about other ways to save money: “We will intervene, and we’ll say, ‘OK, that’s excessive, that’s not sustainable. So, have you tried this? Will you try that?’”

Utility giant PG&E asked California regulators this week to allow it to increase compensation for its investors, a move that would add yet another rate hike for customers. California’s largest investor-owned utility said raising the allowable rate of return for shareholders by 1 point, to 11.3%, is appropriate because of the risk involved with investing in energy in the state. That return would bring the utility more in line with other comparable energy companies, according to PG&E.

Source: CBS 13 Sacramento| By Brady Halblieb

"They will tell investors, 'Hey if you give us the money for essential energy projects, we will guarantee you a return on equity,'" said Lee Trotman, a spokesperson for The Utility Reform Network, a consumer advocacy group. If approved, the rate hike would add approximately $5.50 more per month to the average PG&E customer's bill. That may not seem like much, but customers are already paying $60 more per month than last year, and PG&E bills have increased 56% over the past three years. “Every rate increase, especially from PG&E, is devastating to customers. You have literally millions of customers, who can’t afford to pay their bills,” said Trotman.

AUBURN – The utility company has announced it is requesting an increase, not for infrastructure or safety improvements, but to boost returns for its investors. Currently, PG&E investors earn a 10.2% return on investment. If approved, the new rate would rise to 11.3%, a 1.1% increase.

Source: Manteca/Ripon Bulletin| By Dennis Wyatt

The Utility Reform Network (TURN) is urging the CPUC to reject the request. “California utilities are driving an affordability crisis, with families paying billions in excessive costs while investor profits soar,” said Lee Trotman, Communications Director of TURN.

PG&E wants yet another rate increase. And this time its to make sure its investors are kept whole against risks the for-profit utility may incur. The filing Thursday with the California Public Utilities Commission pencils out to roughly $5.50 a month or $66 a year for residential customers.

Source: San Joaquin Valley Sun| By Daniel Gligich

The Utility Reform Network (TURN), a consumer advocacy group, is pushing back against PG&E and urging the state to reject the request for an increase. 

TURN is asking the CPUC to decrease the 10.6% rate of profit that California utilities are currently receiving. 

TURN is also asking the CPUC to stop approving costly infrastructure projects that inflate rates and is urging the Legislature to change the system to eliminate profits from essential infrastructure investments. 

“California utilities are driving an affordability crisis, with families paying billions in excessive costs while investor profits soar,” said TURN communications director Lee Trotman. “As PG&E, SoCal Edison, and SDG&E submit their cost of capital proposals today, the California Public Utilities Commission must take bold action to lower bills by tackling the root cause of skyrocketing rates: guaranteed profits that reward utilities for spending more, not spending wisely.” 

Pacific Gas and Electric (PG&E) is asking California regulators to raise its rates in order to pay more money back to the utility’s investors. PG&E submitted its 2026 Cost of Capital application to the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) on Thursday to raise rates starting next year. PG&E has requested an increase of around $5.50 per month for residential customers. That would set an 11.3% return on equity for investors. 

Source: Los Angeles Times| By Sammy Roth

“Not having any risk from ignition requires an insane amount of spending,” said Matthew Freedman, an attorney for the Utility Reform Network, a ratepayer watchdog group, in an interview.

From 2019 through 2023, Edison, PG&E and SDG&E were collectively authorized to add $27 billion in wildfire-related costs to customer rates, according to the California Public Utilities Commission — 18% of overall system costs for PG&E, 12% for Edison and 9% for SDG&E. And even if state officials want some Californians to pay more for fire prevention, electric rates are a terrible way to divvy up the costs. High utility bills disproportionately burden low-income and middle-class families, eating up a bigger chunk of their monthly budgets

Source: Canary Media | By Jeff St. John

“There’s agreement that record-breaking shareholder earnings make no sense along with skyrocketing costs,” said Mark Toney, executive director of The Utility Reform Network (TURN), a ratepayer advocacy group, and that ​“utilities need to be held more accountable for their spending.” TURN is supporting a list of bills being introduced in this year’s legislative session that take aim at utility costs. Some would increase state regulator oversight on utility grid spending. Others seek to forbid utilities from spending ratepayer funds on lobbying and advertising and strengthen CPUC oversight of potential ​“double recovery,” or utilities collecting funds for projects already financed via other means.

Everyone agrees that California’s major utilities are charging too much for electricity. But as in previous years, state lawmakers, regulators, and consumer advocates are at odds over what to do about it. With the state’s three biggest utilities reporting record profits even as customers’ rates have skyrocketed, critics say the time is right to pass laws that will force regulators to more tightly control key utility costs — or even outright curb utility spending and profits.

Source: Bakersfield Californian| By Mark Toney

Voters living in the districts of Rep. David Valadao and Jim Costa depend on The Utility Reform Network to protect them from getting ripped off by utility corporations. They also depend on the Consumer Finance Protection Bureau to protect themselves from getting ripped off by every other corporation. Their constituents are counting on their vote to support the CPFB, so that they can continue to make mortgage lenders, banks, medical debt collectors, and credit card companies return billions of dollars to customers they have abused.

Source: The Cool Down| By Amy Bolyington

"Regulators need to shield residential and small business customers from shouldering the brunt of these new data center costs," Sylvie Ashford, an energy and policy analyst at The Utility Reform Network, told CalMatters.

Data centers and crypto mines demand a lot of energy. A recent report from Energy Futures Group on behalf of Earthjustice revealed how electricity tariffs and contracts for these large facilities can impact the power grid and energy costs. 

Source: San Francisco Chronicle | By Julie Johnson

Mark Toney, executive director of The Utility Reform Network, or TURN, said the commissioners are responsible for protecting utility customers from out-of-control company spending but have failed to do so. “They have more authority than they use,” Toney said. 

The typical household bill is expected to be about $299 for those with both electricity and gas service, PG&E said. That is slightly higher than the average residential bill one year ago of about $296, according to PG&E’s bill averages tracked by the Chronicle. The changes come after a historic year of PG&E bill hikes. In 2024, average residential customers paid about $440 more annually compared with 2023, prompting widespread complaints that rising bills are increasingly hard for Californians to pay.