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SCE rates may rise as much as 20 percent |
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Tuesday, 30 September 2008 |
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By Mike Bodine
Register Staff
9-27-2008 A spike in natural gas prices and infrastructure improvements are being pointed out as the need for a proposed rate increase by Southern California Edison. This hike will affect all 5,200 Inyo County SCE customers.
According to the Public Notice in published in the Sept. 25 edition of The Inyo Register, SCE is applying for a 3.6 percent rate increase from the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC).
This application also includes a second recommendation for further rate increases that could see charges rise from 14-20 percent by next summer, or as early as Jan. 1, 2009.
Customers are being encouraged to plan ahead by making any energy efficiency changes to their homes to save energy and lower their bills.
Gil Alexander, public information officer for the international energy giant, said Thursday that natural gas costs have nearly doubled from a year ago. Nearly 60 percent of rates are affected by fuel prices, with the other 40 percent affected by labor costs and such factors as infrastructure improvement. He added that much of the infrastructure components, like power poles and wire, are approaching 50 years old. “We like to replace before things fail,” he said.
Alexander explained that the exact figure of the rate hikes will be determined by several factors.
He said that there had not been a rate hike this summer despite rising fuel costs and higher utility rates, as SCE buys nearly two-thirds of its electricity from various sources.
If gas prices level out from their spike last year and the CPUC does not approve SCE’s request for infrastructure improvements, the rate increase could be as low as 3.6 percent.
However, if gas and utility prices continue to increase, as anticipated, and all infrastructure components are improved, the rate increase will probably be closer to 19 percent, Alexander said.
Alexander also explained that it is up to the CPUC as to exactly how much of a rate increase is warranted and when to implement the increases.
Rate increases must pass scrutiny by the California Public Utilities Commission before they are applied. So, as SCE filed its annual Energy Resource Recovery Account forecast application for the 2009 calendar year to the CPUC, SCE also applied for rate increases based at that time.
In the Public Notice, it states that if SCE’s proposed rate increases are approved by the CPUC, “an average residential electric customer using 600 kilowatt-hours per month in the summer would see a bill increase of $1.21 per month, from $83.59 to $84.80.”
Using real math, if a SCE customer pays $83.59 a month, a 20 percent increase would raise the bill by $16.71 to more than $100 a month.
Alexander stressed that the most important part about this news is that customers should prepare themselves for these proposed increases by considering energy-saving options for their homes and businesses.
He pointed out that the utility’s Web site, www.sce.com, and local SCE offices offer many practical tips and ideas to make a home more efficient and information about rebates for customers that dispose of old refrigerators or other outdated appliances.
The CPUC welcomes public comment about SCE’s request and information regarding possible hearings about the matter and how to comment is available by contacting the CPUC public advisor at
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or by mail at The Public Advisor, California Public Utilities Commission, 320 West Fourth Street, Suite 500, L.A., CA 90013.
For more information regarding SCE’s application, go to www.sce.com/applications, or review a copy at SCE business offices. The Bishop SCE office is located at 374 Lagoon St.
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Last Updated ( Tuesday, 14 October 2008 )
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