Wait, what now? PG&E is trying to raise rates again—this time to boost profits for Wall Streetshareholders.
PG&E made a big deal over the winter about how it was going to “stabilize bills” in 2025 after raising rates four times last year—adding $400 annually to the average bill.
“We’ve heard from our customers that this is a major concern for them,” a PG&E spokesperson acknowledged in December. “We understand that, and we’re taking a lot of different steps and a lot of different actions to try to stabilize bills for customers.”
Well, there goes another PG&E promise out the window.
Only a few months later, PG&E is already asking state regulators to allow it to raise rates again, according to the San Francisco Chronicle—this time because the company, quite openly, says it wants to boost profits for Wall Street shareholders.
You literally cannot make this stuff up.
In filings submitted in March to the California Public Utilities Commission, PG&E has asked to boost the return it provides investors, who received $86 million in shareholder dividends last year. This is the same loophole exposed in February by a former Sempra executive, who blew the whistle on utilities using the process to “overcharge customers by billions annually.”
It's the same old playbook, in other words, from the same old PG&E, which took in almost $2.5 billion in profits last year—while its lackluster service stayed the same and customer bills just kept going up.
San Franciscans have had enough of PG&E’s broken promises, and 78% of residents now support dropping PG&E once and for all.
That’s why the City is moving forward with a plan to purchase the local grid from PG&E and provide full public power—where we can set transparent, affordable rates and reinvest revenues into a smarter, safer, more reliable power system.
As a not‐for‐profit public utility, San Francisco doesn’t pay shareholder dividends, corporate taxes, or executive bonuses. We also have access to lower‐cost financing, further reducing ratepayer costs.
Read more about our progress, including a major milestone the City reached just a few weeks ago, with the publication of the draft environmental impact analysis of the purchase of PG&E’s local assets.
The report’s release on March 19 initiates a 45‐day public comment period, and we welcome the community’s feedback. Following this period, the San Francisco Planning Commission will hold a public hearing on April 17 to discuss the findings and the next step in the environmental review process.
It’s our city. It’s our power. And we are going to continue to need your help to take it back.
