Pacific Power has requested a rate increase of 57% next year in Northern California, an unprecedented price hike in the region and more than triple what regulators approved in 2023.
The proposed rate would add around $120 to customers’ monthly bills, according to Pacific Power.
The PacifiCorp-owned company said the proposal is justified due to increased costs of wildfire prevention, insurance and inflation.
“Not only is the fire risk extreme, but our service area is very sparsely populated,” said Pacific Power communications representative Simon Gutierrez. “It means fewer customers to spread the costs of these investments.”
Pacific Power serves around 46,000 residents in Del Norte, Siskiyou, Shasta and Modoc counties. Gutierrez said the company has about four customers per square mile.
This year, PacifCorp paid $575 million in a settlement with the federal government after the company's equipment was blamed on deadly wildfires, including the Slater and McKinney fires in Northern California.
Since 2022, the company said it has reinforced and covered over 300 miles of power lines and replaced more than 7,000 wooden power poles with steel or fiberglass.
But the California Public Utilities Commission will determine the electricity price increase. Regulators generally authorize lower hikes than first proposed by companies.
“We do recognize the magnitude of the request,” Gutierrez said. “The filing is a beginning of a process, and we welcome a review and discussion about what the right balance is between wildfire investments and rates for our California customers.”
In 2023, regulators only approved a 17.5% rate hike after Pacific Power asked for a 25.7% increase.
A California Public Utilities Commission report this year called the impact of wildfires on utility prices “unsustainable.”
“Wildfire costs will continue to increase utility bills and make electricity increasingly unaffordable, particularly for lower-income households in hotter parts of the State,” the report said.
The Pacific Power rate increase will be partially offset by a 14% decrease next year, due to lower-than-expected costs of fuel and electricity for the company
Pacific Power is asking for the rate change in January. But approval by California regulators could take longer.
