California Assemblymember Berman Introduces Legislation To Lower Energy Bills in California

Today, Assemblymember Marc Berman (D-Menlo Park) announced the California Ratepayer Protection Act (AB 1167), a bill establishing commonsense guardrails for how monopoly utilities spend customer money. As California households continue to be crushed under the weight of skyrocketing energy bills, this legislation offers relief by holding for-profit utilities accountable when they slip the cost of political lobbying, pricey public relations advertising, or shareholder-related expenses like travel on private jets into customers’ bills. Environmental legal organization Earthjustice and The Utility Reform Network are co-sponsoring the legislation.

“Every day I hear from constituents who are struggling to pay their skyrocketing utility bills,” said Assemblymember Marc Berman. “Today, we are taking a major step toward providing relief for hardworking Californians by introducing legislation to lower their utility bills. The California Ratepayer Protection Act is a commonsense proposal to hold for-profit utilities accountable when they attempt to fleece customers for expenses that utility shareholders should be paying for, such as political lobbying, promotional marketing, or shareholder-related expenses like travel on private jets. At a time when monopoly utility companies are reaping record profits, and Californians are paying record high utility bills, it is insulting to force ratepayers to pay for activities that only serve to benefit shareholders.”

In recent years, energy bills in California have surged at rates several times the pace of inflation, deepening the cost-of-living crisis and leaving over two million Californians behind on their utility bills.  Between 2019 and 2023, Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&E), Southern California Edison, and San Diego Gas & Electric hiked their average rates between 48% and 67%, significantly faster than the national average. At the same time, utility shareholders are enjoying skyrocketing profits. PG&E shattered profit records for the second year in a row in 2024, reaping $2.47 billion in profits while requesting approval for six rate hikes on its customers that year. SoCal Edison hit a record of $1.619 billion in profits for shareholders in 2024, after increasing rates by 9.8% that year.

“It’s time to take politics out of our utility bills,” said Matt Vespa, senior attorney on Earthjustice’s Right To Zero Campaign. “For-profit utilities like SoCalGas have lobbied against environmental protections to the tune of millions of dollars — and then attempted to charge their customers for these political influence expenses. It’s not rocket science: utilities shouldn’t be in the business of charging their customers for expenses that don’t provide safe and reliable energy. We thank Assemblymember Berman for his leadership in building sensible guardrails.”

“California utilities are making record breaking profits while hardworking people across the state struggle with skyrocketing bills,” said Mark Toney, Executive Director at TURN, The Utility Reform Network. “The people of California deserve better than to have their money used against them, to pay for utility lobbying and promotional advertising. It is time legislators take action to hold for-profit utilities accountable.”

The legislation follows in the footsteps of other states like Connecticut, Colorado, and Maine, states already saving their residents money in their utility bills after passing measures similar to the California Ratepayer Protection Act. Notably, in Connecticut residents have been spared from footing the bill for up to $10 million of their utilities’ political spending on lobbying and advertising activities since the state passed their law in 2023.

Investigations into monopoly utilities like SoCalGas and PG&E have revealed these corporations forcing customers to cover millions of dollars in inappropriate expenses. Reporting from the Sacramento Bee revealed that SoCalGas tried to pass $36 million onto customers for its years-long campaigns lobbying against environmental protections. In addition, just last year, PG&E was found attempting to spend $6 million in wildfire funds (paid for by customers) on expensive TV ads not for safety but instead to rehabilitate its corporate image.