Many valley renters, home- and business-owners may face a one-two punch next year with both Southern California Edison and Southern California Gas Co. seeking rate increases.
Edison is requesting that the California Public Utilities Commission approve a rate hike that would equal nearly $9 a month more on the average Coachella Valley electric bill.
Edison's request amounts to a 7.2 percent increase in 2012, with increases of 1.3 percent and 4.35 percent the two following years, said Russ Worden, the utility's director of rate cases.
A ratepayer advocacy group, however, calculates Edison's requested increase at about 17.5 percent next year.
The Gas Co., a division of Sempra Energy that provides natural gas throughout the Coachella Valley, is seeking a $308 million, 7 percent increase in its rates next year.
The increase, if approved, would raise monthly bills by $3.35 for an average residential customer.
With the effects of the recession lingering in the valley, the utilities' rate hike plans are weighing heavily on some customers.
“From a business point of view, I'm sick of it,” said Rick Seidner, owner of two restaurants in Palm Springs, Rick's Restaurant and Rick's Desert Grill.
“Here we are in a recession. Everybody's lost business to the point where they are just trying to operate and get by. And now the utilities, like always, want to raise your prices,” he said.
Seidner said he spends a total of about $6,000 a month on electricity at his two restaurants during the summer. His gas bill runs about $1,300 a month.
The Public Utilities Commission's Division of Ratepayer Advocates, an independent consumer division of the regulator, has slammed what it described as Edison's “bloated cost estimates” and called for the commission to reduce the requested increase by 80 percent.
Valley residents can speak on Edison's rate proposal at two hearings scheduled by the Public Utilities Commission for noon and 5 p.m. Thursday, June 23, at Palm Springs City Hall council chambers, 3200 E. Tahquitz Canyon Way.
