PG&E's household customers facing big electricity increase

[Newsjock]

http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/news/archive/2005/09/01/financial/f185021D39.DTL

San Francisco (AP) -- Pacific Gas and Electric Co. said Thursday that it plans to raise electricity rates by $599 million next year with the heaviest burden falling on Northern California households already girding for higher natural gas bills this winter.

Under PG&E's complicated pricing formula, the rate increases for residential customers will be much higher than those facing businesses and farmers. Households will pay an average of 14.28 cents per kilowatt hour, up 10.8 percent from the current average price of 12.89 cents.

The projected electricity price for next year will push household rates even higher than they were four years ago at the height of a statewide power crisis that triggered rolling blackouts through Northern California and drove Pacific Gas and Electric into bankruptcy. In June 2001, PG&E's residential customers paid an average of 14.03 cents per kilowatt hour.

... PG&E Corp. earned $485 million during the first half of this year and its stock has climbed by 15 percent so far this year. The company's shares rose 78 cents Thursday to close at $38.30 on the New York Stock Exchange. The shares traded as low as $6.50 in April 2001 when the utility went bankrupt.

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[wli]

1. Enron v2.0 n/t

[cliss]

2. Our society is imploding.

This is like watching an approaching train wreck, in slow-motion.

I just read that we can expect gas prices to go up to $6.00 per gallon by Xmas (maybe even sooner).

The average American is backed into a corner. There is NO way people can absorb these costs.

[hunter]

3. PG&E burns natural gas, not coal.

It's good for the air, but very bad if there are severe shortages this winter, which seems likely.

PG&E went bankrupt after it was looted by mobs of wealthy white men.

Too bad Bush didn't issue a "shoot to kill" order then. I guess he didn't want to mess up the carpets in the White House.