It appears that opposition to potential PG&E rate increases is not universally accepted throughout the Central Valley – at least not yet.
In June, PG&E made a request to the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) to increase rates by an average of 19 percent from 2023-2026. Residential customers could bear the worst of the hike with a 22 percent increase.
In the last couple of weeks, the Fresno City Council and the Fresno County Board of Supervisors passed resolutions to publicly oppose the utility’s requested rate hikes.
Their resolutions both called on PG&E and the CPUC to reconsider the increase and institute a rate freeze that would only be lifted if the utility reforms its operations and implements cost-cutting measures.
Two other counties had the opportunity on Tuesday to join in and speak out against the hikes but chose not to do so for the time being.
Both the Kings County Board of Supervisors and the Madera County Board of Supervisors had similar resolutions in front of them at their respective meetings.
Kings County was the first to dissent Tuesday morning, with the board opting to table the item until they can learn more about the potential rate increases.
Madera County took the same action at their Tuesday evening meeting, and the supervisors plan to meet with PG&E to learn about the reasons behind the requested increase.
