GrassRoots Institute: ‘Looming Utility Tax Proposal Would Harm Millions of Californians’

This is a press release from the GrassRoots Institute (GRI) of Mendocino County:

LOCATION— GRI General Meeting on January 28th at noon at the Caspar Community Center (15051 Caspar Road, Caspar, CA 95420)

Last year, the Legislature passed AB 205, a new law that would add a Utility Tax to everyone’s electricity bill. This Utility Tax is uncapped, with unlimited potential to grow. Now the monopoly utilities and their aligned organizations are proposing the highest Utility Tax in the country—between $30-70/month for all non-CARE or FERA ratepayers, just for being hooked up to the grid.

A deep dive into the data, submitted to the record by the Clean Coalition, shows that the Utility Tax proposals will increase electricity bills for millions of working and middle class people across California. The proposals will hit particularly hard for  people who live in apartments or homes that use less electricity.

The Utility Tax will also discourage all forms of energy conservation, such as turning off the lights, putting in new windows, or installing solar panels. It would undermine our state’s clean energy goals and diminish our ability to control our electricity bills.

Even a Utility Tax of $30 / month would increase bills on millions of working class and low-income people who live in apartments, condos, and other homes that don’t use much electricity.

Utility Tax proponents say their proposals will lower bills on low-income people. They are not telling the whole story. It is true that CARE and FERA customers would see small and temporary decreases in their monthly electricity bills. But there are millions of people who do not qualify for CARE or FERA, who live in an apartment, who are low income, and who are struggling to make ends meet. For example, a single mother making $40,000/year living in an apartment, she’s just above the CARE cutoff. Her bill will increase immediately.

Let’s also remember that rates and this uncapped Utility Tax will continue to go up, and up, and up. A Utility Tax just rearranges deck chairs on the Titanic—harming millions of working class people and frontline communities in the process.

It is likely many state Legislators voted for AB 205 without realizing what was in it. But the fact is that the Legislature created the Utility Tax. To make things right, the Legislature needs to repeal the Utility Tax provision in AB 205 before it goes live in July 2024.

It’s not too late to stop this, and your voice can make a difference. Please join us at the GRI General Meeting on January 28th at noon at the Caspar Community Center (15051 Caspar Road, Caspar, CA 95420)

Clean Coalition Rebuttal Testimony