PG&E Baseline Rate Regions
A request by the Valley Women’s Club and I to have the California Public Utilities Commission change the PG&E baseline designation for the San Lorenzo Valley has been delayed until June. The proposal is to reduce the cost of electricity and reduce air pollution from woodstove smoke. Currently, due to the high cost of electricity, many San Lorenzo Valley residents use wood-burning stoves as their primary heat source, resulting in smoke particulate pollution. The requested change in the electrical baseline designation would align San Lorenzo Valley with areas with similar average temperatures. It would also correct the inappropriate designation made years ago which effectively locked our costs to almost double the surrounding areas, in spite of our extremes of severe cold in the winter and heat in the summer.
The application from PG&E to the California Public Utilities Commission requesting the change was expected to be submitted in April. It is now expected to be submitted in June. Read more about PG&E Baseline Rates here.