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Doesn't this effectively eliminate the incentive for people to use less electricity? If I am going to pay a fixed amount every month, why make any effort to buy more efficient appliances, light bulbs, turn off my A/C and electric heaters when I don't need them.

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It reduces it. Per kilowatt pricing still exists, they just shift fixed utility costs (e.g. transmission infrastructure) to a fixed rate.

Better explained at https://www.sfchronicle.com/bayarea/article/pge-utility-elec...

Thanks! I answered my own question right as you posted this. It still seems to me that if there is such a high flat rate for higher income earners, that then the delta between trying to save electricity and not is less, so the incentive is still reduced.

I haven’t seen any in depth analysis but I suspect that it would increase electrical usage and lower natural gas usage (at the home), which is what I suspect this rate reform partly may be targeting. CA’s astronomically high per kWh rates create an informative disincentive to electrify homes, even when the overall efficiency of the electric machines is much higher.

I think this article explains it better: https://abc7.com/utility-bills-income-california/13126671/

There are two parts of the bill: a fixed amount, and an amount by usage.

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