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Source:Redheaded Blackbelt |By Lisa Music
One in five California electricity customers fell behind on their bills last year. A new report from UC Berkeley says the system that sets electric rates is part of the problem. The Center for Law, Energy and the Environment (CLEE) at UC Berkeley Law released the report Thursday. It’s called Powering Down Prices: Policy Solutions to Lower California’s Electricity Rates. The report looks at why electric bills keep going up and what state lawmakers could do about it.
But utilities can also use special accounts to bill customers for certain costs later, without the same level of review. The report found that spending through these accounts jumped from $86.6 million a year in 2018 to nearly $2.4 billion in 2024. “Memorandum and balancing accounts function like a credit card for utilities, with no spending limit and no real accountability,” said Mark Toney, Executive Director of The Utility Reform Network (TURN). “Utilities have exploited this loophole in the ratemaking process to dramatically increase their spending outside the budget constraints of the General Rate Case. California ratepayers operate within a budget. Utilities should too.”
