Summarize this content to 2000 words in 6 paragraphs As Californians get ready to turn on their air conditioning this summer, the state’s utility regulator approved a hotly contested change to residential electricity rates. In a unanimous vote Thursday, the agency authorized a flat fee of up to $24.15 and cuts to electricity costs by 5-7 cents per kilowatt-hour.The change stands to impact 11 million customers of investor-owned utilities starting late next year. Regulators called it a key step to slashing carbon emissions from homes, arguing the “fixed charge” will help stabilize utility revenue and curb rising costs of California’s clean energy transition.The proposal has stirred fierce debate in recent months, reviving a battle between allies of investor-owned utilities and proponents of rooftop solar. At the heart of this conflict are questions about who will pay to supply more California homes with clean electricity into the future, a debate that’s playing out amid rising energy prices.“The transition to all electric homes, cars and trucks is truly transformative. It means that we can ratchet down our use of petroleum and natural gas. It also means that our electricity rate design needs to evolve to meet this moment in time,” said California Public Utilities Commission president Alice Busching Reynolds.The change does not add any costs or fees, Reynolds said, but rather changes the way existing costs are divvied up Pacific Gas & Electric, Southern California Edison and San Diego Gas & Electric bills. The flat rate, she said, “will simply now cover some of the infrastructure costs to serve you.”The CPUC has framed the measure, which is roughly based on income, as geared toward making electricity costs more equitable. Under the rule, low-income customers are eligible for a discounted flat rate of $6 if they are enrolled in the state’s CARE program, and $12 if they already benefit from what’s called the FERA program.A highly charged debateThe vote follows months of debate that pitted lawmakers against the governor’s office, advocates of rooftop solar against utilities and environmental advocates against one another.Opponents argue that the change in billing policy won’t meaningfully encourage customers to adopt electric vehicles and heat pumps and will instead discourage energy conservation while punishing rooftop solar customers.Greg Sparks, left, and Rob Hawley, foreground, join a coalition of renters, seniors, affordable housing advocates and environmentalists protesting outside the California Public Utilities Commission meeting at Warren Alquist State Energy Building in Sacramento on Thursday. The CPUC approved a $24 monthly fixed charge on residential consumers who get their electricity from PG&E and other providers. “The CPUC’s proposal is exactly what Californians should be worried about, a big utility tax that is twice the national average and totally uncapped,” said Bill Allayaud, director of government affairs for the Environmental Working Group, in a statement.Protesters outside the CPUC Thursday vehemently opposed the commission’s vote and marched to the legislature Thursday, calling on lawmakers to cap the fixed charge. Many utilities across the U.S. include a fixed charge in customers’ monthly electricity bills, at about $11 a month on average.“Simply put, this is a blank check to profitable utilities that gives them a guaranteed revenue stream for the costly projects that drive expensive electricity rates,” Allayaud said. “Consumers by contrast will now have two ways for their bills to go up.”Households that use high amounts of electricity are likely to see savings in their monthly bills, as well as low-income households who qualify for the discounted fixed charge. Smaller households, low energy users and homes with installed solar panels are likely to see their bills rise.In the state legislature, Democratic lawmakers have found themselves caught between calls to prioritize energy conservation from fixed charge opponents and promises of more equitable energy prices from the measure’s supporters.When a proposal to roll back the fixed rate plan was discussed in a committee hearing last month, all 14 lawmakers abstained from voting — shelving the controversial measure.But lawmakers have themselves to thank, having directed the CPUC to study and consider authorizing a fixed charge on electricity bills when Gov. Gavin Newsom stuck last-minute language favored by utilities into a budget trailer bill in 2022.Those origins led to widespread criticism that the CPUC and utilities themselves were able to influence the policymaking process to their benefit without enough public input.Californians currently pay the second-highest electricity rates in the nation after Hawaii. PG&E customers saw new rate hikes this year, with the average household paying an additional $34.50.Extreme weather, drought and drastic swings in temperature and wildfires are all fueled by climate change — they also impact utility costs. Under the previous system, California ratepayers would pay for wildfire risk mitigation and other major investments directly in energy prices.Many environmental groups, such as the Natural Resources Defense Council, feared that status quo would make prices skyrocket dangerously. The idea of electricity rate design, they argued, is to separate those investments from a lower cost of energy.“Electricity should be cheaper than fossil fuels and electric bills for our lowest income customers should continue to be affordable. This decision is a good first step in that direction,” said Mohit Chhabra, senior analyst at NRDC, in a press briefing.Win for utilities, loss for solarMuch of the opposition to the CPUC’s rule has come from companies and advocates connected to California’s rooftop solar industry, which relies on high electricity prices to make rooftop solar panels a worthwhile investment for homeowners.Solar advocates say the change is certain to hurt the pocket book of their customers. That industry is still smarting from the CPUC’s decision last year to slash returns on what had long been a lucrative investment for California homeowners.“This proposal will drastically change the value proposition for customers and for our business,” said Erin Weber Kiel, government affairs manager for major rooftop solar company Sunnova. “We have not seen a fixed charge get proposed anywhere near this high nationally.”This highly charged debate underscores a push from the rooftop solar industry and other smaller, distributed energy sources, for more power over the future of California’s energy system against state-sanctioned monopoly utilities.“This is a conflict between two industries. I think their narratives have been largely shaping the public discourse,” said Ruthie Lazenby, a fellow with the UCLA Emmett Institute on Climate Change & the Environment.Watchdogs must keep investor-owned utilities from needlessly raising rates, she said, but universally affordable electricity for all will need utility scale clean energy. In a recent report on the fixed charge debate, she called on more leaders to engage in this issue.“This policy has become controversial because the solar industry hates it and wealthy people with rooftop solar hate it. Utilities like it, and we all hate utilities. But the truth is just because it’s good for utilities doesn’t mean it’s bad for the public, in this case.”
