Key Takeaways:
Pacific Gas & Electric customers could face annual bills $840 higher by 2030, the California Public Utilities Commission's Public Advocates Office estimated, setting up a clash with the utility over the trajectory of electricity costs for 16 million residents.
"The overall trend is upward and will continue to outpace inflation," Mary Flannelly, a spokesperson for the Public Advocates Office, said.
The watchdog projected typical household bills would jump $444 in 2027 alone, with cumulative increases reaching roughly $840 by the end of the decade. That would surpass the $443 in additional costs the average PG&E household absorbed in 2024, when wildfire-related expenses and inflation drove bills sharply higher.
PG&E disputed the forecast. The utility said average residential customers with combined gas and electric service would see bills rise about $128 next year, or roughly $10 a month, as cost-cutting initiatives and the expiration of temporary wildfire charges offset a proposed $1.2 billion revenue increase. Under PG&E's own projections, annual bills would climb another $119 in 2028, $126 in 2029 and $133 in 2030.
"Critics love to say PG&E rates will go up, but we keep proving them wrong," Mike Gazda, a PG&E spokesperson, said.
The disagreement highlights growing tension over California's utility ratemaking system. Between 2016 and 2026, average monthly gas and electric bills for typical PG&E households rose 84 percent to $285 from $241, according to the company. Bills peaked at $295 in January 2024 before declining to $285 in January 2026, helped by lower natural gas prices.
State regulators approved more than $40 billion in wildfire-related costs across California's three major investor-owned utilities from 2019 to 2024, a primary driver of rising electricity rates. About $16 of every $100 PG&E bill goes toward state-mandated wildfire prevention programs such as tree trimming.
A separate report from UC Berkeley's Center for Law, Energy and the Environment found that miscellaneous rate requests outside the central budget process ballooned nearly 28-fold to $2.4 billion in 2024 from $86.6 million in 2018. Travis Richie, an energy expert and co-author of the report, said putting more spending back into a heavily scrutinized budget process could help contain costs.
"Rates are high because we're spending a lot of money, and if we want rates to go down we need to spend less money," Richie said.
PG&E last year secured a $15 billion loan guarantee from the U.S. Department of Energy that the company said could save customers up to $1 billion over the life of the loan through lower-cost financing for major projects.
The California Public Utilities Commission is expected to authorize new rates in 2027, a decision that will determine the actual trajectory of customer bills. PG&E Chief Executive Patti Poppe has said there is "a world where bills can go down," though the watchdog's estimates suggest otherwise.
This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute investment advice.
