California electric bills are skyrocketing – Press Enterprise

In this Aug. 15, 2019, file photo, a Pacific Gas & Electric worker walks in front of a truck in San Francisco. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu, File)

The head of California's largest utility, which is under increasing pressure over rising electricity bills, said the trend is close to stopping and could soon reverse.

PG&E Corp. customers could see bills go down as early as next year, Chief Executive Patti Poppe said in an interview Thursday. The utility that serves Northern and Central California dramatically raised rates to shore up its system against wildfires, driving the company into bankruptcy in 2019. But the higher bills, including a 13% increase in January, have sparked a public outcry and backlash from state lawmakers.

Poppe said the recent increases are due in part to the utility's need to collect revenue for its 2023 and 2024 infrastructure investments in this year's bills. Some of those are one-time fees that will end next year, she said.

“We know that this will work,” said Poppe. “We will work hard to reduce prices for our customers.”

A slide in the company's most recent quarterly earnings report, released Thursday, shows a sharp increase in customer bills for 2023 and 2024, followed by a slight forecast decline over the next two years.

PG&E reported first-quarter net income of $732 million, up 29% from the same period last year. California regulators in December approved a plan for PG&E to collect an additional $2 billion from customers in 2023 and 2024 to fund operations and fire protection work.