Take Action:

Action 1: Send an email to the California Public Utility Commission (CPUC), to oppose a dramatic increase in exit fees for Community Choice energy programs, and copy the Governor and your legislators to hold the CPUC accountable.

Action 2: Speak out at the December 17 CPUC hearing.

Read on for more Information.

Background:

The Power Charge Indifference Adjustment (PCIA) is an exit fee that PG&E, and the other investor-owned utilities (SDG&E and SCE) charge customers who switch to a Community Choice energy program. The Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) allows PG&E to collect this fee from its former customers, including low-income CARE customers, in perpetuity.

Community Choice customers currently pay PG&E a monthly exit fee but get nothing in return. Now, PG&E wants to double the exit fee, forcing Community Choice customers to pay twice as much for the same amount of nothing.

PG&E claims that it entered long term electricity contracts on behalf of Community Choice customers and shouldn’t have to take a loss on these purchases. But PG&E has continued to procure electricity for customers even when it was clear they would be departing for their local Community Choice program. In what other business can management use inaccurate, self-serving forecasts to get a guaranteed rate of return when customers depart for a superior service offering? And in what other business can lost customers be charged in perpetuity for such a departure?

If it has its way, PG&E will fleece current Community Choice customers out of $119 million in exit fees next year, further fattening its $1.4 billion profit margin. These unwarranted charges will also make it much more difficult for new Community Choice energy programs to compete with PG&E, thereby attempting to stifle the statewide motion toward establishing new Community Choice programs.

The CPUC has already issued a tentative decision approving the PCIA increase. This decision will become final on December 17 unless the CPUC feels enough heat to reconsider its monopoly-serving stance.

Action 1: Send Email

Please copy and paste the given sample email and send to the following:

lr1@cpuc.ca.gov, mp6@cpuc.ca.gov, cap@cpuc.ca.gov, mf1@cpuc.ca.gov, cjs@cpuc.ca.gov 

Be sure to cc: the Governor’s staffperson, Sandy Goldberg:
sandy.goldberg@gov.ca.gov and cc: your legislators. If you don’t know who your legislators are, click here to find out.

Note: If you are a Community Choice customer, feel free to personalize the sample email by mentioning how much you pay in PCIA charges over a year and how you might otherwise spend this money.