Photo: California Public Utilities Commission Headquarters in San Francisco (Credit: CPUC) Due to high natural gas prices, the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) has announced that the spring Climate Credit will arrive on bills two months earlier than usual, exact date to be announced.What is the California Climate Credit? Every Spring and Fall residential customers (and qualifying small businesses) see a line on their energy bill called the “California Climate Credit.” The October credit is a credit for electricity, and the April credit is for both for electricity and natural gas. This credit is your share of a state program that requires power plants, natural gas distributors, and other large industries that emit greenhouse gases to buy carbon pollution permits. The program is part of the California Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006 (Assembly Bill 32), which was instituted to reduce California’s greenhouse gas emissions. The credit is delivered to you by your utility company, though the money comes from the state, and will be applied to your bill as soon as possible, per the CPUC approval. The amount of your Climate Credit is the same whether or not you are an EBCE customer. Customers who receive natural gas service from PG&E will receive a $90.17 credit on an upcoming bill. Customers who only receive electricity service will receive a $38.39 credit. Natural gas prices this winter have risen dramatically and long spells of cold weather have increased demand. PG&E bills are on average 32% higher than they were at this same time last year and the early credit will hopefully ease some of the financial stress surrounding energy bills. Read more about the CPUC decision here. As a reminder, natural gas is a PG&E service and is a part of your PG&E bill. EBCE does not sell natural gas, however, as another part of your monthly energy bill, we wanted to spread the word! |