CalCCA Urges CPUC to Protect Customers from Unfair Rate Increases in PG&E and SCE Rate Applications
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: December 5, 2025
Media Contact: Jackson McDonough
(925) 597-1995 | jackson@cal-cca.org
CalCCA Urges CPUC to Protect Customers from Unfair Rate Increases in PG&E and SCE Rate Applications
Low-Income Residents Could See Unjust Rate Hikes of More Than $500 Per Year
Sacramento, Calif. — The California Community Choice Association (CalCCA) is calling on the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) to revise its proposed decisions approving Pacific Gas and Electric Company’s (PG&E) and Southern California Edison Company’s (SCE) 2026 Energy Resource Recovery Account (ERRA) forecast applications, warning that the decisions would result in significant electricity rate increases for millions of Californians and violate state law protecting customer equity.
The CPUC’s proposed decisions would increase the Power Charge Indifference Adjustment (PCIA) rate for some Community Choice Aggregation (CCA) customers by 350- 455% from 2025 to 2026—in some cases nearly ten times the increase faced by bundled Investor-Owned utility (IOU) customers.* Some CCA households could see bills rise by more than $40 a month—or more than $500 a year—hitting low-income residents the hardest.
CalCCA notes in comments filed this week that the CPUC proposals “breeze past” huge bill increases by preventing CCA customers who have left PG&E or SCE generation service from receiving any value for renewable energy credits (RECs) they previously paid for as well as incorporating other measures that increase costs on community choice ratepayers.
“The CPUC’s proposed cost shift onto CCA customers is both unfair and unlawful, and some of the state’s most vulnerable customers will bear the burden,” said CalCCA CEO Beth Vaughan. “The CPUC must modify the proposed decisions to ensure RECs are valued consistent with the law.”
The PCIA is set annually in the Investor-Owned Utilities (IOUs) ERRA proceedings. It includes above-market costs related to power supply commitments that the IOUs made many years ago. These include utility-owned generation (e.g., nuclear, natural gas, hydroelectric plants) and long-term renewable energy contracts with third parties. The law requires that CCA and other departed load customers receive the value of benefits associated with the IOUs’ PCIA resources when their utility’s generation customers use the resources. Find additional information on the PCIA here.
CalCCA’s comments filed in PG&E’s 2026 ERRA Forecast proceeding (A.25-05-011) are available here CalCCA’s comments filed in the SCE 2026 ERRA Forecast proceeding (A.25-05-008) are available here.
Next, the CPUC will consider reply comments on the Proposed Decisions in each case. A final decision on both PDs is expected at the Commission’s December 18 voting meeting.
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About CalCCA
Launched in 2016, the California Community Choice Association (CalCCA) represents California’s community choice electricity providers before the state Legislature and at regulatory agencies, advocating for a level playing field and opposing policies that unfairly discriminate against CCAs and their customers. There are 25 operational CCA programs in California serving more than 15 million customers—over one-third of the state’s population—in 200+ cities and counties throughout the state. For more information about CalCCA, visit www.cal-cca.org.
* A bundled IOU customer receives all electricity services—generation, transmission, and distribution—from a single investor-owned utility (IOU), while a CCA customer receives electricity generation from a Community Choice Aggregation (CCA) program and the IOU’s distribution services.
