Unaware PG&E consumers have been hit with harsh and quickly growing monthly power bills as a result of rising natural gas costs and this winter’s frigid blasts. Pleasanton resident Nicole Murray was shocked by the cost of the PG&E gas and electrical services.
Murray claimed that for many years, her PG&E bills consistently fell between $300 and $400 each month. Her PG&E bill began late in 2022 and has been paid in full thus far in 2023.
Analysts blame a variety of variables, with rising natural gas costs in particular, for California’s crippling increase in monthly electricity bills. Also, there aren’t as many natural gas reserves available as there once were.
One significant issue: In 2015, a huge leak in the Aliso Canyon gas storage facility in the San Fernando Valley area of Los Angeles County necessitated the shutdown of the energy complex in 2016. Southern California Gas started field storage in 2017, albeit on a restricted scale.
According to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, costs for natural gas piped into homes in the Bay Area in January shot up by 24.4% compared to January 2022 for services essentially equal to PG&E gas services. Contrast that with the yearly gain of 14.7% in December. The federal agency’s report was analyzed by this news outlet, and it was found to be the greatest year-to-year increase since September 2022.
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PG&E Customers Face Higher Bills
The recent chilly weather in the Bay Area, which was highlighted this month by unexpected snowstorms, has also contributed to the increase in PG&E rates. After installing solar panels on their home in San Jose’s Evergreen neighborhood, Frank and Adele Frausto believed they had successfully avoided skyrocketing power costs.
Also, it appears that recent gas operations have greatly increased PG&E’s revenue, which is situated in Oakland. In 2022, PG&E’s gas utility operations brought in $6.62 billion in revenue, a 20.1% increase over the $5.51 billion the company earned from gas in 2021.
PG&E generated $2.05 billion in revenue from natural gas utility operations in the fourth quarter of 2022, from October through December, up 24.2% over the $1.65 billion in revenue in the same quarter of 2021.
According to the company’s annual report, gas revenue is increasing significantly more quickly than the utility’s entire revenue. An increase of 0.5% from the $20.64 billion in revenue in 2021, PG&E earned total revenue from electricity and gas operations of $21.68 billion in 2022.
The $6.62 billion in the income generated by PG&E’s gas utility operations in 2022 represents a 20.1% increase over the $5.51 billion the business generated from gas in 2021.
In the fourth quarter of 2022, from October through December, PG&E generated $2.05 billion in revenue from natural gas utility operations, a 24.2% increase over the $1.65 billion in revenue in the same quarter of 2021.
As per the company’s annual report, gas revenue is increasing significantly more quickly than the utility’s entire revenue. An increase of 0.5% from the $20.64 billion in revenue in 2021, PG&E earned total revenue from electricity and gas operations of $21.68 billion in 2022.
The majority of the wholesale natural gas used by California’s main utilities to serve their consumers must also be transported. The Bay Area’s utility gas rates have soared higher for PG&E customers, but this area still seems to be doing better than Southern California, where there have been reports of enormous spikes in gas utility expenses.
The Natural Gas Intelligence website reports that spot prices for natural gas reached a peak in December 2022 and have since been progressively declining.
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