PG&E Wants Rate Hike for Efficient Energy Users

[Newsjock]

Source: San Francisco Chronicle

Tree-huggers be warned, you may soon be picking-up part of the energy bill for the neighbors that leave all the lights on.

In a recent application to the state, Pacific Gas and Electric asked to raise service rates by 5 percent for their best energy conserving customers, typically smaller households.

The reason?

So they can give price breaks of 2.5-5.7 percent to their biggest energy clients who use between 131 and 300 percent or more than the baseline monthly average.

Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/blogs/inthemission/detail?entry_id=51129&tsp=1

[AndyA]

1. Corporate America: rewarding bad behavior, penalizing good behavior.

Makes perfect sense in today's screwed up world, doesn't it?

[ChazII]

2. Sad but true.

Reward the bad behavior but penalize the good. You hit the target with your observation.

[Maestro]

10. Nail meet head!

How disgustingly true that statement is.

[FiveGoodMen]

3. Bottom line: ALL the corporations want the US government to take everyone's money

and hand it over to them!

And our leaders are very seriously considering it.

[KamaAina]

4. One-person household here, about to sign up with them later this month.

Bastids. :grr: :banghead: :argh:

edit: smilies

[ej510]

7. I have solar panels on roof and PG&E still gouges me.

[Wizard777]

5. This is theft! We invest in energy efficient homes and appliances.

The energy companies steal the return on our energy conservation investment by raising our rates. I almost want to say call in the SEC. It's a kin to investment fraud.

[Auggie]

6. Their corporate accounts are cash cows

That's the way I heard it several years ago. Guess they want to give them a price break to keep them from installing/investing in alternative energy devices. What a fucked-up system this is.

[diane in sf]

8. Hopefully the PUC will slap them down

[nightrain]

9. yep.... it's about the money coming in. Less use = less income...

[Hell Hath No Fury]

11. Fuckers!

I work so damned hard to get my energy use down -- to be penalized for it is just beyond the pale. :mad: I want off the grid so bad I could scream.

[FiveGoodMen]

12. And if Congress treats energy regulation the way they're treating HCR

You'll have to pay a yearly fine for being off the grid.

No pocket unpicked.

[ej510]

15. PG&E will write the bill.

[edwardian]

18. 6,000$ US

4 batteries, inverter, windmill, 4 solar panels and 2 Sundance fridge/freezer appliances (import duties may apply)Costa Rican Company. The install is easy even for the unelectrically trained. Good luck.

[Gormy Cuss]

21. Hey, come to the East Bay where EBMUD did something similar.

Customers were so good at conserving water that EBMUD wasn't generating enough operating revenue so they raised the rates.

[Old Codger]

13. Same thing they did

Back in the seventies and eighties, they spent millions of dollars telling everyone to cut down on energy use, anyone remember the ads talking about sharing the shower? We all cut back on energy usage only to have PG&E go the the cal PUC and beg to be allowed to raise their rates, their reason was "Their profits were down because people were not using as much as they used to" Therefor since their bottom line had shrunk the deserved a raise in order to make as much as before while providing less.

[depakid]

14. Bizarro world...

[Tabasco_Dave]

16. This man is my hero

but I'm sure the corporations and government will find a way to screw him and others like him over.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qRpMAt7Rbv8&feature=PlayList&p=641DCB40CC965C98&playnext=1&playnext_from=PL&index=1

[No Elephants]

17. Here's a thought: Just say no. No one guaranteed these theives that their profits would never

decline if people did what gubbamint's been asking them to do for 40 years and conserved. The utilities have had decades to get into greener ventures to offset declining use and failed. This is like horse-drawn carriage makers asking the government to enure a higher price for their carriages as cars started cutting into their profits.

These utilities have been very profitable for their shareholders for a long time. The ride is winding down. Adapt or make less profit.

Time to resuscitate the REAL free market--no government subsidies or protections. The damn teabaggers are not the only ones who've had enough of wealth transfers. I have, too.

[eilen]

19. National Grid (National Greed) did that to us a few years ago

They instituted a surcharge for those who used under a certain amount of energy. They don't even "supply" the energy they just "distribute" it so we pay them an amount for "delivery" and so called private energy companies for the actual gas/electric.

It's a scam. I'd love off grid just to give them the finger. But NY would likely find a way to fine or tax or surcharge me five ways til Sunday.

[Le Taz Hot]

20. Mother fucker!!!!

:mad:

It's bad enough I have to pay the SAME friggin' garbage bill as my garbage-producing, fast-food/insta-meal eating neighbors who produce TONS of trash each year wherein my recycling to trash ratio is now 3:1, now I'm going to have to subsidize the energy hogs? And that's AFTER I am going to be MANDATED to feed big insurance companies when I can't afford their deductibles to be able to USE their over-priced, under-covered "service."

Today is not a good day for the environmentally-conscious poor.

[sakabatou]

22. Fucking greedy PG&E