Rising utility prices: How to get help with gas, electric bills in the Coachella Valley
For Morongo Valley resident Eva Rowles, her gas bill is usually “the one bill I don’t really have to worry too much about.” But in January, sky-high natural gas prices pushed her family’s SoCal Gas bill up from the usual roughly $60 to over $200.
Natural gas prices increased 128% from December to January, resulting in “shockingly high” January gas bills for customers, according to SoCalGas. Natural gas prices are set by regional and national markets, and several events in December caused inflated price points, including widespread colder-than-normal temperatures, high natural gas consumption, and pipeline constraints.
Some relief is coming with February bills ― market prices for natural gas have since dropped by 68%, according to SoCalGas, but bills still remain higher than last year. SoCalGas estimates that if a customer received a $300 bill for January usage, that same usage amount would result in a bill of about $135 for February, up from an average SoCalGas residential bill of $99 last February.
In addition to elevated gas bills, Coachella Valley residents also saw an increase to their electric bills this year, further squeezing budgets amid rising inflation. Overall consumer prices in the Inland Empire were up by 7.3% in January compared to last year, a higher increase than in the Los Angeles area, where prices increased by 5.8%, and the national rate of 6.4%, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
“I feel like we’re drowning in bills,” said Rowles, who was born and raised in Palm Springs and cleans short-term rentals for a living. “It’s slowly feeling more and more like we just can’t afford to live here, we’re not even making enough money to be able to afford to pay the bills.”
Rowles got an extension on the SoCalGas bill, and plans on paying chunks of it down with each paycheck.
“But by the time I’m done paying the extended bill, the next bill will be due, and I’ll have to get an extension again ― we can just never get ahead, it’s just extension after extension after extension,” Rowles said.
Electric bills are also on the rise
Southern California Edison rates also increased starting on Jan. 1, with the average residential customer seeing an increase of about $11 per month, according to SCE spokesperson Ron Gales. Most of that rate increase can be attributed to natural gas prices, according to Gales, as Edison relies on natural gas for about 20% of its energy sources.
Southern California Edison has also filed with the California Public Utilities Commission for another rate increase on June 1, which is still pending approval but would likely come with a 4.4% increase for the average customer.
Gales says about a quarter of the Jan. 1 rate increase can be attributed to the utility’s ongoing costs of upgrading the grid to better handle extreme weather and wildfire risk, and those costs are also influencing the request for a June 1 rate increase.
Desert Community Energy, which serves Palm Springs, also adjusted its rates in January. Desert Community Energy controls the generation portion of customers’ electric bills, while Southern California Edison still manages electricity delivery and customer billings. DCE uses Edison’s rates “as a benchmark for setting our rates,” according to Erica Felci, spokesperson for the Coachella Valley Association of Governments.
DCE’s rate increase is expected to increase the average residential customer’s bill by about $7.21 per $100 of usage.
“Frankly, our reason is the same as Southern California Edison and many utilities statewide: the soaring costs of natural gas prices. . . When natural gas prices go up, it impacts the wholesale power costs, which is why you are seeing this widespread ripple effect in electricity bills,” wrote Felci in an email to The Desert Sun.
The desert’s other community choice aggregator, Rancho Mirage Energy Authority, raised its rates starting Feb. 1.
Imperial Irrigation District made a one-time adjustment to its Energy Cost Adjustment factor, which “recovers the cost of fuel, energy, capacity, transmission, and purchased power costs that are not recovered in the base energy charge,” to 7 cents per kilowatt hour for the February billing period to account for the spike in natural gas prices, according to IID spokesperson Robert Schettler. IID expects the adjustment will have an estimated impact of $14 to $22 on February bills.
Prior to the recent increase, the ECA was at around 3 cents, and will remain slightly higher than that at around 4 cents for the March billing cycle.
How to get help with utility bills
In response to the high utility bills, the California Public Utilities Commission moved up the timeline for residential energy customers to receive the state’s Climate Credit, which normally is distributed in April. Customers of Southern California Edison should see a credit of $71 on their bills in February or March, and SoCalGas customers will see a credit of about $50.
If you’re struggling to pay your utility bills, some other forms of assistance are available.
How low-income customers across the Coachella Valley can get help with utility bills
California Alternative Rates for Energy Program: Low-income customers with Southern California Edison, Desert Community Energy, and the Rancho Mirage Energy Authority are eligible to enroll in the California Alternate Rates for Energy Program, which provides customers below certain income limits with a 30 to 35% discount on their electric bill and 20% discount on their natural gas bill. The income limits are determined by household size, for example, the income limit for a family of four is currently $55,500.
Family Electric Rate Assistance Program: For families with a household income slightly above the CARE limits, the Family Electric Rate Assitance Program (FERA) applies an 18% discount on electricity bills for Southern California Edison customers.
Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program: Another option is the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program, administered by the Community Action Partnership of Riverside County using federal funds. Eligibility is also determined by income and household size, with the income cap for a family of four set at $62,313. Due to limited funding, not all who qualify will receive assistance - instead, applicants with both high energy costs and low income are prioritized.
The utilities also offer some of their own programs.
How SoCalGas customers can get help with utility bills
SoCalGas offers one-time grants of up to $100 to help customers below certain income thresholds pay their gas bills, and payment plans for SoCalGas customers enrolled on the CARE program.
Other options for managing bills for all customers include splitting bills into 12 equal payments and signing up for bill tracking alerts to monitor natural gas consumption.
The utility offers a medical baseline allowance program for customers that require heating due to a medical condition.
How Southern California Edison, Desert Community Energy, and Rancho Mirage Energy Authority customers can get help with utility bills
Southern California Edison offers a medical baseline allowance program that provides discounts for households that require electrically powered medical equipment.
Other options include the ability to split bills into equal payments throughout the year and the Energy Assistance Fund, which provides up to $300 to eligible customers once a year.
How IID customers can get help with utility bills
Imperial Irrigation District also offers a medical baseline allowance program that provides discounts for households that require electrically-powered medical equipment.
The utility offers an energy assistance program that provides a 20% discount for income-qualified customers, and a 30% discount for qualified customers 62 or older. Customers that qualify for that program and are facing disconnection due to nonpayment can also receive payment assistance of up to $75 in winter months.
This article originally appeared on Palm Springs Desert Sun: How to get help with gas, electric bills in the Coachella Valley
