Source: San Francisco Chronicle | By Quentin L. Kopp

And that’s just the beginning. As part of its general rate case, PG&E is seeking increases that could add $42 a month to customers’ bills — totaling more than $500 annually by 2030, according to The Utility Reform Network.

On Dec. 20, a third of San Francisco homes and businesses were plunged into darkness. Pacific Gas & Electric Co.’s power outage forced families to throw out hundreds of dollars’ worth of spoiled groceries. Seniors on fixed incomes sat in cold apartments, worrying about their medical devices and refrigerated medicine. On one of the busiest shopping days of the year, businesses had to close, with some losing over $100,000 in inventory and missed sales. 

Source: Boiling Point | By LA Times

Sammy Roth talks with Matt Freedman, staff attorney at the Utility Reform Network, about what California lawmakers are doing to rein in soaring electricity costs, and why it’s crucial for the state’s climate goals.

Source: The Sacramento Bee | By Mark Toney and Kat Taylor

Carrier of Last Resort (COLR) obligations are legal requirements that ensure every household and business has access to basic telephone service, regardless of location remoteness, unprofitability or access challenges.

Source: ABC10 | By Brandon Rittimanhor

Customers who received some of PG&E’s first new underground power lines are shocked by how little the company buried and frustrated by a lack of clear communication

Source: CalMatters | By Khari Johnson

California’s Public Utilities Commission today rejected AT&T’s application to stop providing landlines and other services in areas where there is no other option.

Its 4-0 vote came after a judge determined the application by AT&T California was “fatally flawed.”

Source: SF Chronicle | By Aidin Vaziri

AT&T must continue offering landline telephone service in California, state regulators decided Thursday.

Source: LAist | By Nereida Moreno

Regina Costa, Telecommunications Policy Director for the advocacy organization, TURN, provided the following comments on our May 10 radio interview.

-I expect the CPUC to approve the proposal to dismiss AT&T's application. AT&T could not show that there are other carriers who will serve everyone and tried to argue that was irrelevant. That doesn't jive with the law or the CPUC rules and is rightfully being rejected.

-We would not be surprised if AT&T goes to the legislature. AT&T is trying to pitch this as an application to promote broadband. It is the opposite. It is a proposal that would allow them to pick and choose who to serve, leaving entire communities and many neighborhoods that they deem undesirable out in the cold. I sent her the April 24 Earnings Call, and the quote from the AT&T Director, CEO, and President.

-The Administrative Law Judge rightly pointed out that nothing is stopping AT&T from deploying its advanced network right now.

-Californians turned out in droves to the public participation hearings, in person and after waiting hours on the phone. They overwhelmingly said that AT&T is wrong, that there are no alternatives in much of AT&T's territory, and the Commission should reject the proposal.

-The new CPUC proceeding will be very, very important, because it is about universal service - how to ensure that every Californian can receive essential communications services, without discrimination. Discrimination isn't just price discrimination, it is what services are available. And what is meant by basic service. And should it incorporate reliability requirements.

Source: Redheaded Blackbelt | By Sarah Reith

“ ‘AT&T is touting this application as pro broadband,’ [Regina Costa] remarked … But as the judge pointed out, nothing in the application actually does that. There is a lot of could, and would.’…”

AT&T will likely have to continue as the carrier of last resort in California, relieving some anxiety about the future of landlines in rural parts of the state.…

Source: Point Reyes Light | By Ben Stocking

““What AT&T really wants is to stop providing essential telecom service to 99 percent of its service area, without providing a shred of evidence that there are real alternatives,” said Regina Costa of The Utility Reform Network, an Oakland-based consumer group. .”

A judge has issued a stinging opinion recommending that the California Public Utilities Commission reject AT&T’s request to end landline service in California—a move that would leave thousands of West Marin customers without reliable service.

Source: The Press Democrat | By Marisa Endicott

“A woman described how essential her internet service has been in facilitating medical appointments for her mother in hospice care. ‘I strongly encourage policies that support a modern and robust network for everything in California,’ she said. ‘I don’t want the CPUC to stand in the way of progress.”

The backlash from California communities and officials has been swift and steady as state regulators consider whether to release AT&T from…

Source: KQED | By Danielle Venton

“The bill was ‘right on target in terms of telling the utilities and telling the Public Utilities Commission that we need to find the least cost solutions…”

California has enjoyed a few relatively quiet wildfire seasons, but lawmakers are still focused on lowering the state’s risk and have introduced a number of fire-focused bills in the last few weeks…

Source: Chico Enterprise-Record | By Editorial Board

The Utility Reform Network, a consumer advocacy group that goes by TURN, blasted the profit figures. “TURN believes it is unacceptable for PG&E shareholders to pocket billions in profits at the expense of its customers who have seen bills skyrocket by 33% last year alone,” said Mark Toney, the group’s executive director.

Shameful. Reprehensible. Despicable. Honestly, we wish there were a stronger word to describe PG&E’s ripoff of its largely captive customer base, but we’re stuck to come up with one. The company announced Thursday it earned $2.24 billion in profits last year, an incredibly unjustifiable increase of 24.6% from 2022. Even more alarming, the report also predicted the company’s investors could anticipate even better earnings in 2024; after all, we’re not done with these rate increases. Not by a long shot. As long as there are a few extra pennies in the pocket of any customer, PG&E seems determined to find them.

Source: The Sacramento Bee | By Ari Plachta

“When I read this, I was like, ‘Holy crap, they’re using ratepayer money,’” said Sen. Dave Min, an Orange County Democrat who authored the bill. “I’m a SoCalGas customer. They’re using my money to lobby against climate regulations, and that is really messed up.”

A state senator introduced a bill Wednesday to strengthen laws that prevent energy utilities in California from passing on the costs of political lobbying to their customers.

Source: CBS8 | By Keristen Holmes

"They're the regulatory body that is supposed to take in the public's interest in a for-profit company. Companies that are for-profit and …”

SAN DIEGO — SDG&E customers are speaking out about a plan to raise electricity and gas bill rates…

Source: Los Angeles Times | By Terry Castleman

“The proposal, she said, was “unacceptable” and would make it difficult for gas customers to recover from recent price surges…“

Despite public outcry over unusually high natural gas prices this winter, utility executives sought Monday to justify a proposal to…

Source: KTLA 5 News | By Will Conybeare

“We urge the L.A. City Attorney to investigate why SoCalGas paid two-hundred fifty percent more for gas this winter than PG&E,…”

Twenty social, environmental, health and utility justice organizations submitted a letter calling on Los Angeles City Attorney Hydee Feldstein Soto…

Source: The San Diego Union-Tribune | By Rob Nikolewski

“Even though the (commodity) prices have come down, people are still faced with enormous bills for the past couple of months that a…”

San Diego Gas & Electric announced Tuesday that the natural gas commodity price for March has dropped to 60 cents per therm…

Source: The Washington Post | By Emma Foehringer Merchant

“There’s no guarantee that an individual CCA is going to have a superior environmental footprint to the utility,” Freedman says…

For many Americans, rooftop solar panels just aren’t an option, whether that’s because they live in apartment buildings, their homes…

Source: Los Angeles Times | By Sammy Roth

“A settlement is supposed to convince us that this really is in the best interests of the public,” TURN staff attorney Katy Morsony told me…

It all started in Berkeley.In July 2019, elected officials in the Bay Area city, a national leader in progressive politics and environmental…

Source: Fox KTVU 2 | By Allie Rasmus

“Was their profiteering? Price-gouging from pipelines out of state?” Toney said. “It is a fact that California paid more for gas than the rest…”

SACRAMENTO, Calif. – The cost of natural gas has dropped across the country, but not here in California. Prices here have soared compared…