SACRAMENTO – California's utility bills and the state's affordability crisis were front and center at the Capitol on Wednesday.
California senators grilled the California Public Utilities Commission over the approval of six PG&E rate increases in the past year and skyrocketing utility bills.
"Ratepayers are not a bank," Senator Aisha Wahab said. "I'm just going to be very clear about that."
"A $500 bill breaks the bank," State Senator Susan Rubio said.
"I don't think you're answering my question," Senator Jerry McNerney said. "Can some of this be shifted to the shareholders?"
"People on social security, people those with union jobs do not get six increases to their pay and yet PG&E gets six increases to be able to toss on to ratepayers," Wahab said. "Can you explain?"
"So we're approving work for the utility they work that the utility is requesting to do," California Public Utility President Alice Reynolds said.
Reynolds took the blistering examination with measured responses.
"We do make efforts to reduce the amount that they're seeking as much as possible and force them to be efficient and force and force them to do a better job," Reynolds said.
The hearing comes as PG&E has raised its rates by 56 percent in the last three years
The utility says many increases are from work they did at legislators' requests.
"PG&E shares California leaders' focus on delivering a safe, reliable, resilient energy system at the lowest possible cost for customers," the utility said in a statement.
Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle say the utility affordability crisis is now a political problem.
"My district elected me to tackle the affordability crisis," Republican Senator Suzette Valladares said.
"Nobody wants to be sitting in front of a committee being treated in a bad way," Democratic Senator Jerry McNerney said.
Now will California's utility regulator take a tougher stance on rate increase requests?
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