The House Appropriations Committee on Thursday rejected a closely watched bill that would have required lawmakers to study and review a controversial new electric charge recently approved by the Newsom administration.
Committee members did not discuss their concerns about the bill known as AB 1999 or why they decided to stop the bill from moving forward.
In the roll call, two Democratic committee members — Timothy Grayson of Concord and Jill Pellerin of Santa Cruz — voted in favor of the bill. The remaining members of the 15-member committee abstained from their votes.
Some lawmakers said this week they received more calls from constituents about the new $24.15-a-month electric charge and AB 1999 than any other topic.
The state Public Utilities Commission, which is led by Newsom appointees, He agreed to the charge last week. In exchange for paying the new fees, consumers will receive a lower price for each kilowatt-hour of energy they use.
The Newsom administration says the new billing structure is necessary to encourage more people to buy electric vehicles and replace gas appliances in their homes, which would reduce the use of fossil fuels that cause global warming.
Since California’s electricity prices are the second highest in the country, the new fees have angered people across the state.
A coalition of more than 250 consumers and other groups protested the new monthly fees, saying millions of Californians who live in apartments or small homes that use little electricity will see their bills increase to support those who use much more energy.
They point to a study that found 3.9 million households would pay $65 to $225 more a year under the new billing structure.
People with solar panels on their homes will also be subject to monthly fees.
The new fees affect customers of investor-owned energy companies, including Pacific Gas & Electric, Southern California Edison and San Diego Gas & Electric. This does not apply to customers of the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power or other municipal utilities.
The Utility Commission says electric companies will not receive additional revenue under the change. The authority said that the amount that companies will collect from monthly fees will be equal to what they lose from imposing a lower price per kilowatt hour.
But critics point out that Newsom’s 2022 bill to start the process of charging the new monthly fees eliminated the $10 cap on such fees that had been in place since 2013. The 2022 bill passed the House A matter of days almost without any discussion.
In January, Jackie Irwin, a Democrat from Thousand Oaks, introduced AB 1999 to undo much of Newsom’s 2022 bill.
The bill has had a tough road. Last month, Assembly leaders halted the legislation before it could be heard.
Irwin then amended the bill in an attempt to revive it. Bill It passed its first session of the committee Wednesday.
The amended bill would have required examining customer bills in 2028 to determine who pays more or less under the new pricing structure. The monthly fees could be eliminated if the Legislature finds they are not working as the Utilities Commission intended, the bill said.
Irwin’s bill would have prevented utilities from raising fixed fees beyond the rate of inflation.
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