Pacific Gas and Electric Company reaches general rate case settlement
Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) announced on Dec. 20 that it reached a settlement in its 2020 General Rate Case (GRC), which funds measures to improve safety and reduce wildfire risk.
The parties involved in the settlement agreement agreed that the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) should approve funding for PG&E’s ongoing wildfire prevention efforts, risk monitoring, emergency response, vegetation management, hardening of PG&E’s electric system and other new and enhanced safety measures to further reduce wildfire risk. The agreement also includes funding for electric and gas distribution safety and reliability and power generation.
The settlement was filed with the CPUC last week.
“These efforts support PG&E’s most important responsibility, which is the safety of our customers and the communities we serve,” PG&E Utility CEO and President Andy Vesey said. “This agreement furthers our commitment to deliver safe and reliable energy to our customers, including making our system more resilient to the growing threat of wildfires.”
If the CPUC approves the agreement, a typical residential electric and gas customer would see their monthly bill increase by an average of $5.69 a month, or 3.4 percent, including $4.90 for electric and $0.79 for gas service. The rate change would occur in 2020 after the CPUC’s decision and revise rates through 2022.
“PG&E’s commitment is to keep customer bills as low as possible while meeting our responsibilities to safely serve our customers, even as our changing climate presents significant new challenges and risks,” Vesey said.
The assigned administrative law judges will review the settlement agreement, and other parties will have an opportunity to provide comments before the CPUC issues a final decision in 2020.
