In April, Southern California Edison customers will see an $86 credit automatically appear on their monthly bills, while Southern California Gas customers will get $73 back. In April, Southern California Edison customers will see an $86 credit automatically appear on their monthly bill, while Southern California Gas customers will get a credit of $73.Similar rebates are being doled out this year to customers of investor-owned utilities throughout California, with more than $1.
Regulators say other climate-related factors are responsible for driving up those rates. That includes utilities paying to prevent and mitigate wildfires by spending millions to harden their systems and pay out settlements to victims of fires caused by their equipment. Regulators say rates also are spiking because utilities are paying for new power lines to keep up with the push for electrification and because they’re losing revenue to rooftop solar.
But regulators know most companies aren’t there yet. So CARB also makes available a certain number of “allowances,” with each one carrying rights to emit one metric ton of carbon dioxide — about as much as a passenger car would emit while being driven from Los Angeles to Pittsburgh. The state’s portion of that money feeds into the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund, which goes to communities to help them offer incentives for individuals to buy clean vehicles, plant trees, make their homes more energy efficient and fund other climate-related projects. Los Angeles County has received more than $2.3 billion in funds from the program to date, per a, with $464 million has gone to Orange County, $458 million to San Bernardino County and $413 million to Riverside County.
The rebates keep going up because the price for allowances keeps going up, noted Terrie Prosper, spokesperson for the state utilities commission.