Date: October 2023

California is in the middle of a regulatory proceeding to lower volumetric electricity rates and replace the revenue with income-graduated fixed charges. The idea was inspired in part by a 2021 UC Berkeley Energy Institute study that found the current rate structures of the investor-owned utilities have rates that are at least double the utility's avoided cost. A successor study released in 2022 found that the current rate structure places a disproportionate burden of paying for fixed costs and climate policies on low-income households, and that the high rates are likely to undermine efforts to decarbonize homes and personal transportation. Income-graduated fixed charges are not the only way to address these problems, but they are the route that the California legislature has chosen. 

During this session, learn more about California's journey with income-graduated fixed charges, presented by  Severin Borenstein, Faculty Director of the Energy Institute at the Haas School of Business at UC Berkeley.

Speakers:
Jordan Folks, Opinion Dynamics
Severin Borenstein, UC Berkeley Haas