California Elected Leaders Demand CPUC Stabilize Electric “Fees”

September 24, 2020

Dozens call for common-sense fixes to reduce consumer costs, stabilize volatility

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Sept. 24, 2020

CONTACT
Pete Hillan, Singer Associates
Pete@singersf.com, 415-244-5782

SAN JOSÉ, CA. – (Sept. 24, 2020) – Nearly 100 elected officials and community leaders throughout California called on the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) today to reduce price volatility and costs that harm all electricity customers in the state.

In a co-signed letter, the 99 leaders, who are board members of 11 local Community Choice Aggregators (CCAs), demonstrate that the rules underlying the Power Charge Indifference Adjustment (PCIA) – a fee charged to all electricity consumers for utility above market generation costs – have not achieved their stated outcomes.

“The 2018 PCIA decision promised stakeholders transparency and stability. Neither outcome has occurred,” the letter reads. “The heart of the problem is that the current regulatory structures governing exit fees provide no incentive for Investor Owned Utilities (IOUs) to reduce their portfolio costs – an outcome that hurts all energy consumers in the state, customers of the IOUs and the CCAs.”

The “exit fee” has risen more than 600 percent since 2013 in the Pacific Gas & Electric service area. The fee has nearly doubled since the CPUC changed the PCIA rules in 2018. The state’s two other IOUs, Southern California Edison and San Diego Gas and Electric, are set to raise their “exit fees” again this year, in the middle of a global pandemic and its accompanying economic hardships, raising rates for consumers.

The letter makes two specific asks of the CPUC to reduce volatility and cost impacts:
1) Adopt the recommendation proposed by the California Community Choice Association (CalCCA) and Southern California Edison in the public working group that requires utilities to allocate resources to load serving entities whose customers pay for them, and to encourage the optimization of supply portfolios; and,
2) Adopt transparency measures on exit fees that give consumers more information on what they are paying for.

“California has been a leader on clean energy for decades,” the leaders wrote. “It is time to continue that work by fully partnering with CCAs and the equitable, resilient, and clean-energy future they are building.”

The elected officials signed as individuals and their activities should not be construed as official actions or representations of the cities or municipalities that they represent.

About Community Choice Aggregators
Community Choice Aggregators, or CCAs, provide competitively priced, clean energy choices to their communities while reinvesting revenues into local and statewide projects and programs, supporting sustainability and enhancing their local economies. There are 21 CCAs in California, serving more than 10 million customers. To learn more about CCAs, click here.

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