Patti Poppe, CEO of Pacific Coal Power, California's largest utility company, said that the trend of rising electricity prices is about to stop and may be reversed soon.
Zhitong Finance learned that Patti Poppe, CEO of California's largest utility company Pacific Coal & Electric (PCG.US), is facing increasing scrutiny due to soaring electricity bills. He said this trend is about to stop and may soon be reversed. Poppe said in an interview on Thursday that customers will see their bills drop as soon as next year. The utility company, which serves northern and central California, raised rates significantly as it strengthened its system to withstand wildfires, which caused the company to go bankrupt in 2019. But higher bills, including a 13 percent increase in January, have drawn strong public outcry and opposition from state legislators.
Poppe said the recent price increase is partly due to utility companies needing to collect revenue from infrastructure investments in 2023 and 2024 in this year's bills. Some of these are one-time charges and will end next year, she said. Poppe said, “We know it's going to be a success. We will work hard to lower prices for our customers.”
The company's latest quarterly earnings report released on Thursday shows that customer bills will rise sharply in 2023 and 2024, and are expected to decline slightly over the next two years. Pacific Coal & Electric reported net profit for the first quarter of US$732 million, an increase of 29% over the same period last year. California regulators approved a plan last December requiring the company to collect an additional $2 billion from customers in 2023 and 2024 to pay for operations and fire protection work.