How Much More Can California Pay For Power?
There seems to be room to raise rates to deal with its PG&E problem, but that creates new problems.
Think Californians are angry about PG&E now? Wait until you raise their electric bills.
Photographer: Justin Sullivan/Getty Images North AmericaAmid the many known unknowns and unknown unknowns surrounding PG&E Corp., one certainty shines through: Bills will be going up.
CALFire’s determination that PG&E’s equipment didn’t start the deadly Tubbs Fire in 2017, released Thursday, raised expectations the company could be off the hook for more than $10 billion of potential liabilities (although it is worth remembering nothing is settled so long as victims of the fires are pursuing claims). Even so, the company still faces potentially tens of billions of dollars of liabilities arising from other wildfires (see this). Plus, ratepayers or Californians in general must also grapple with the future costs of reconfiguring or strengthening the state’s grid to quickly mitigate a chronic risk of wildfires (see this).