A new PG&E billing structure that went into effect this year includes a slight decrease in electricity rates, but most people won’t notice: PG&E rates skyrocketed nearly 40% from 2022 to 2025.

Have you taken a close look at your power bill recently?

If you live anywhere other than a big house in a hot part of California, I’d highly suggest you do — because you’re probably getting ripped off.

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Since March, the PG&E bill for my modest San Francisco apartment has steadily risen. It’s now nearly double what it was during the same period last year, even though I’m using less energy than I was then. 

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Many of my apartment-dwelling friends have also complained about a sudden and seemingly inexplicable spike in their PG&E bills — even as the utility has embarked on a PR blitz to brag about how rates keep dropping.

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I’ll explain in a minute. But the fact that I need to should be a wake-up call for California politicians — especially its candidates for governor. 

Tom Steyer’s bellicose gubernatorial campaign was mostly vapid on the policy front. But there was more than a kernel of truth in his messaging: People hate being ripped off, especially by powerful utility monopolies they have no choice but to use.

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Unfortunately, while Democrat Xavier Becerra and Republican Steve Hilton have made bringing down energy prices central components of their gubernatorial campaigns, their ideas don’t exactly inspire confidence.

Becerra, for example, wants a blanket freeze on utility rates. But this kind of vague, sweeping promise is sure to be as riddled with legal and........

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