PG&E Collaborated with Petaluma Councilmembers and Climate Action Commissioners to Increase Utility Bills by Forcing Home Electrification on Local Residents
Equitable Building Decarbonization Scoping Workshop held by California Energy Commission confirmed that Petaluma residents will see a PG&E rate hike
Through their elected and appointed positions within the City of Petaluma, Councilman Brian Barnacle and former Climate Action Commissioner Panama Bartholomy have been advocating for decarbonization and full electrification of homes. While Mr. Bartholomy is the Founder and Executive Director of Building Decarbonization Coalition, Mr. Barnacle is the Director of Strategy & Development, Building Decarbonization Coalition.
On December 13, 2022, the California Energy Commission held an Equitable Building Decarbonization Program Commissioner Workshop under the jurisdiction of the Equitable Building Decarbonization Program. The Workshop transcript stated the following:
One such example of a large-scale analysis we just recently completed was for the City of Petaluma. This is a large-scale energy modeling analysis we did. There's 14,000 homes in Petaluma, and we modeled each and every one of those, so every dot on the map represents an energy model of a home, and so there's 1,400 dots on the map. And you can start to create these sort of heat maps because the energy modeling takes into account the TOU rates, the carbon intensity, the utility bill impacts. In fact, we can even feed in prior energy usage data to calibrate these models at scale. So this kind of analysis capability 5 allows us to really start to think of using data as a way to guide our Direct Install Programs.
One of the questions or key insights that came out of that Petaluma program or analysis was the city asked us, you know, our -- will electrification increase or decrease utility bills for our homes? And the answer, I can have you concentrate on the green graphic here, which is full electrification, heat pump, HVAC, and heat pump water heater, the answer that came out is that, well, it's about 80 percent homes that will see positive savings or decrease in their utility bills, and about 20 percent homes that will see an increase in utility bills. And that's given the utility rates, it’s a little more clean power, and PG&E gas rates, and the climate of the region, and the homes that we were able to model there.
So each of these dots, again, on the chart here is homes, there’s 1,400 homes here, and we -- oh, sorry, 14,000 homes, and these homes are on this axis showing you whether you have positive or negative savings. So anything above zero, you're seeing positive savings. So this is both good news and bad news; right?
So the city was like, okay, that's great, 80 percent of our homes are going to have their bills go down, but then also that means 20 percent of homes will have their bills go up.
The California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) approved PG&E’s 2023-2026 General Rate Case on November 16, 2023. Currently, the rates are projected as an increase of approximately 12.8% in 2024, 1.6% in 2025. The typical bill will increase by about $32.50 in 2024, $4.50 in 2025, and supposedly decrease by almost $8.00 in 2026.
On November 20, 2023, Mr. Barnacle voted in favor of Adopted Resolution No. 2023-171 N.C.S. Approving a Letter of Support Regarding Activities Related to the Potter Valley Project. The resolution stated the following:
RECOMMENDATION
It is recommended that the City Council adopt the attached Resolution approving a letter of support regarding activities related to the Potter Valley Project.
BACKGROUND
The City of Petaluma currently has two primary water supply sources: water purchased from Sonoma Water and local groundwater used during drought conditions and emergencies. These water supply sources have historically provided the City with safe, reliable, consistent potable water for its residents.
The primary water source for Sonoma Water is the Russian River system, which includes reservoirs Lake Mendocino and Lake Sonoma, which release supplemental water into the Russian River, and groundwater collectors on the Russian River, which capture water for distribution. Sonoma Water owns water rights up to 75,000 acre-feet annually to capture and distribute water to its nine water contractors, including the City of Petaluma. Although Sonoma Water owns these water rights, during dry years they may be subject to curtailment to which Sonoma Water places supply restrictions to its contractors.
In addition to the natural watershed directing runoff into the Russian River and its reservoirs, the Potter Valley Project (PVP) has historically been an essential contributor to the natural flows of the Russian River. The PVP is a hydroelectric power plant system built in 1908, consisting of Cape Horn Dam, which creates a small reservoir named Van Arsdale, and Scott Dam, which forms Lake Pillsbury. This system provides a source of water, which is diverted to the Potter Valley Power House through a diversion tunnel. The water used in the hydroelectric powerhouses ultimately reaches Lake Mendocino, which is then released into the Russian River. The PVP currently diverts, on average, 60,000 acre-feet of Eel River flows into the Russian River system. During dry years, the PVP can significantly contribute to flows into Lake Mendocino and the upper Russian River. The upper Russian River is the primary water source for cities in Sonoma County, including Ukiah, Cloverdale, Healdsburg, and Hopland. These flows also support agriculture and fisheries resources in the Russian River area.
The PVP is permitted and licensed by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC). In February of 2022, PG&E announced plans to surrender the FERC license, which was set to expire in April 2022 and decommission the project. In July 2022, FERC accepted PG&E’s proposal, which proposed a 30-month schedule to submit a license surrender application and decommission the power plant. This “surrender and decommission plan” is due to FERC in January 2025. PG&E is expected to release a draft surrender application in November 2023, with a final draft in May 2024 for public input, ahead of the January 2025 deadline. The application is said to include the removal of the Scott and Cape Horn Dams and end any operations, including water diversions to the Russian River.
DISCUSSION
The PVP is instrumental in maintaining and supplementing flows into the Russian River that have occurred for over a century. In order to understand the impacts and alternatives to the PVP, a multi-agency, multi-county working group was convened, known as the “Two Basin Solution.” This effort focused on options to maintain a diversion from the Eel River to the Russian River system during periods of high flows, which would benefit the Russian River system while minimizing impacts on the Eel River system. In anticipation of the surrender of the PVP, the Mendocino County Inland Water and Power Commission (MCIWPC), the Round Valley Indian Tribes (RVIT), and Sonoma Water (collectively known as the “Proponents”) worked together to submit a proposal to PG&E that included:
Forming a Joint Powers Authority as a regional entity that could operate the Project,
Convening a table to negotiate a settlement agreement,
Developing the financial capacity for ownership, construction, and operation of the facility,
Agreeing with PG&E on the terms of the Purchase and Sale Agreement, and
Acquiring and modifying the PVP’s water diversion facilities and construct a new Eel-Russian Facility.
The proposal was submitted to PG&E on July 31, 2023, to express interest in certain PVP facilities that preserve flows from the Eel River to the Russian River and improve Eel River fisheries. This was completed before PG&E’s deadline to receive proposals. Without such a proposal, PG&E’s decommissioning plan would likely include removing all PVP facilities, including those that provide diversions to the Russian River.
On October 4, 2023, the Proponents received notice from PG&E about the new Eel -Russian Facility proposal. The following response was received:
The various water suppliers in Mendocino, Sonoma, and Marin Counties, including numerous Sonoma Water contractors, have drafted a letter of support for the new Eel-Russian Facility Project and included each jurisdiction’s logo to show support. Including the City’s logo on such a letter required Council action. Unfortunately, the item could not be included on the Council’s agenda before the joint support letter was sent to federal and state legislators. Agencies not able to include their logo on these support letters are now sending individual letters expressing support as soon as they are able to do so. Staff recommends that City Council adopt this resolution approving a support letter for the Potter Valley Project activities and the new Eel-Russian Facility.
CLIMATE ACTION/SUSTAINABILITY EFFORTS
The project supports maintaining potable water supplies for the residents of Petaluma. The project will help to maintain healthy flows within the Russian River, sustaining fisheries and wildlife habitat in the watershed. The project will also include improvements to fisheries and wildlife habitat in the Eel River watershed.
ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW
Adoption of this Resolution is exempt from the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) in accordance with CEQA Guidelines Section 15061(b)(3), which established the general rule for projects concerning which it can be seen with certainty that there is no possibility that the activity in question may have a significant effect on the environment.
FINANCIAL IMPACTS
There are no financial impacts.
ALTERNATIVES
If the City does not provide letters of support, the project may be in danger of not being supported. If the Eel-Russian Facility Project is not created, the water supply in the Russian River system may be impacted, and the reliability of the City’s water supply may be affected.
The Petaluma Council has failed to notify residents of the severe impact of PG&E rate hikes to echo from removing the Potter Valley Dam.
In March 2024, CA D2 Congressional Candidate Chris Coulombe published an article in The California Globe which detailed the disastrous effects:
By submitting its plans to destroy Scott Dam and the Cape Horn diversion facility, PG&E, a quasi-state agency, has shown us three valuable data points:
They have no further interest in the dams
It is up to North Coast residents to protect our water supply, quality of life, and cost of Living
They use elected officials to increase their topline
Sadly, our region’s Congressional representative, Jared Huffman, is ready to help move the story along for PG&E’s benefit without a fight. He is dutifully “critical” of PG&E – always an easy target. Yet, he supports removing Scott and Cape Horn Dam and is silent on an inevitable truth: Water will become scarcer and thus more expensive for his constituents to the benefit of his donors. Current studies place the destruction project alone at almost $400M.
Incredibly, in an article posted to his website, Huffman said he intends to make PG&E’s destruction of Scott Dam slow and expensive.
“I urge people not to get overly excited,” said Rep. Jared Huffman (D-San Rafael) Wednesday when asked to respond to the decision by PG&E, explaining that “PG&E is trying to get out from under the project as quickly and as cheaply as possible … but it’s not going to be fast and it’s not going to be cheap.”
Who does Huffman think will pay for PG&E’s decommission-and-destruction project?
Translation for all PG&E customers: Expect even higher rates for a long time. And once these dams are gone, by all official accounts, they are gone for good.
Thanks to Gov. Gavin Newsom and Rep. Huffman.
Just last week, KQED published the following article:
Electricity costs will get even higher for many Bay Area residents after California regulators approved the latest in a series of PG&E rate hikes at a voting meeting on Thursday.
The utility seeks to recover $943.9 million in costs related to wildfire mitigation and damages from power outages during severe storms in recent years. It asked state regulators to approve a temporary rate increase of $5.16 per month for its average customer.
It’s the third such “interim rate relief” request from PG&E within a year, according to California Public Utility Commission documents. In July 2023, regulators allowed PG&E to raise rates temporarily by an average of $10.30 and then again by around $5 a month the following March.
These smaller, temporary rate hikes are in addition to regulators’ approval of a much larger general rate adjustment proposal last year to help PG&E cover the cost of burying thousands of miles of lines underground in the most wildfire-prone parts of the state, as well as other investments.
Ratepayers saw an average increase of about $30 a month on their bills beginning this year because of that.
Before Thursday’s vote, regulators heard from numerous critics and residents who complained about yet another rate hike. The commission approved it without discussion.
PG&E customers’ rates have more than doubled in the last decade, and while they fluctuate from month to month, average bills for electricity and gas service can approach $300 a month.
PG&E has said the money would recover some of the costs of its response to the winter of 2022-2023, when “it restored power to 7 million customers during a record 15 major storms.”
“These costs were incurred beyond what has been authorized in rate proceedings,” the company said in a statement. “Interim Rate Relief helps to lower costs for customers in the long term and more appropriately allocate costs to those who were customers when the costs were incurred.”
The company said it was able to reduce rates in July and is trying several strategies to bring down consumer energy costs.
However, consumer advocacy groups like The Utility Reform Network, or TURN, have consistently opposed these price hikes. In filings with state regulators, the group said, “There may never be a worse time for PG&E to propose interim rate recovery,” given the compounding impacts of all the recent cost increases.
PG&E said that the timing of when the rate hike will go into effect is still to be determined.
As Petaluma Residents struggle with their monthly bills, why are Councilmembers eager to place them into an even further financial black hole? Why does Councilmember Brian Barnacle appear to be utilizing his position in local government to middleman business deals for PG&E. Will you be voting for Mr. Barnacle in the November 5, 2024 General Election?
“Yet the evil still increased, and, like the parasite of barnacles on a ship, if it did not destroy the structure, it obstructed its fair, comfortable progress in the path of life.”
-William Banting
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