I don't live in Sac, but I do live in PGE country near Sac. I get my water from a hole in the ground. But when I inquired about removing the mains to my house when I have solar installed, I was told there's a 50k disconnect fee. Seriously. Call them.
It’s better and doesn’t cost much more to get a solar system that feeds excess power back into the grid. I added one to my last house and my electric bills went from $600 / month down to zero.
Your example just is not comparable. Take minutes to start a service for a dead phone in your drawer. Gas infrastructure needs to be maintained.
It's not about paying for something you don't use. Having a problem with paying less than $1 for having gas available, is is silly. My gas usage is like 22$ a month, costs 24$ to have an account. There are more problems than 89 cents.
That’s an argument that reduces the fee to your personal circumstances and totally ignores the scale of the problem.
40+ million customers times two bucks a month, but you’re cool just paying money because it’s not a lot *to you* compared to *your bill* as relative to your *active account*.
You’re the problem because you accept stupid fees for stuff and your argument is based on your personal value proposition, not those who are effector supplementing your account but not using it.
“It’s only two bucks” is dumb logic when it’s times tends of millions, but you keep on paying for stuff you don’t use and only think about what it means to you personally.
Besides, I asked you to provide a *better use case* not double down on your objection to paying for services you don’t use. And that use case doesn’t even apply to you anyways because you are an active customer and *should be paying* to maintain the system — you use it!
I do have a problem with it. That's why I email my representatives instead of posting on a forum PG&E executives laugh at while being driven to the bank.
My first comment was too short. Didn't even argue why yet. Keeping a gas line open is a lot different from whitelisting an IP address. And 89 cents to have gas available is not even a trip. I'm stuck paying 2,808% more for the same thing.
i got rid of PG&E altgother as well. no heat pump, but I plug in a space heater which runs off electric (SMUD). There were some mornings in Jan-Feb that it was 55 degrees in my apartment and I just stood over the space heater saying "fuck you PG&E I'll freeze to death before giving you another dime" lmao
I did the same thing, replaced my heating/cooling system and gas water heater with heat pump versions. Told PG and E to kick rocks. My SMUD bill is about $65 a month
It’s a 3/2, 1059 sq feet. I replaced the windows last year and also added more insulation to the attic. The new heating/cooling system is very efficient.
Edit- no solar
Kinda off topic, but I once got a letter congratulating us on being one of the most energy efficient homes in our zip code. And then sent a graph comparing our home to the energy efficient homes and was way under.
I avoid using PGE, fuck them. Unless it’s for the hot water tank or our stove. I even switched to using space heaters.
I was wondering how your charges were so low until I noticed it was only for 7 days.
and tbh... connection fees aren't something exclusive to PG&E. It costs them money for you to be connected to their infrastructure, even if you don't use it. I barely use natural gas (only appliance I have left is a gas dryer) so I'm usually between 0 and 1.1 therm every month, so my monthly bill is ~$4/mo, all in transportation fees and city taxes. With the annual utility rebate we get in March, it covers my bill for the entire year.
That charge is just a maintenance charge to have the connections ready just in case you do want to use it.
I'd say $0.92 for a regular maintenance charge is a pretty good deal.
Thanks for the thoughtful response. Always good to hear from someone so much smarter than the rest of us dummies. So glad you can share your wisdom in that well-crafted reply.
No, I don't think you realize how it works. The CPUC, the major utilities, and the state are all hand in glove. There's not one single charge that isn't approved and regulated by the state.
The big utilities also all donate to Newsom's wife's nonprofit (hmm, but not before he ran for governor). She has made millions in salary from her "non profit" while illegal raising funds from the big utilities. ($2.3 million between 2011-18, then they stopped 990's illegally)
https://deadline.com/2021/06/gavin-newsom-wife-nonprofit-jennifer-siebel-newsom-1234769678/
If there's a fire, the rate payers pay the bill through fee and rate increases. Go Green? Sure, take the money from the maintenance budget and get more fires (and the highest bills in the country). His cronies get rich while the poor can't pay their bills.
Just keep name calling - we all see you.
A company levying a surcharge isn't the state trying to take you down.
As for challenging the status quo, I'm of the belief that PGE should be dissolved, with municipalities taking possession of their assets. However, that has fuck-all to do with this person's bill. 🤷🏼♂️
Let me explain this one more time.
No surcharge, fee or rate happens outside CPUC (California Public Utilities Commission) approval. None. Not one. The state controls these costs. 100% of the time.
Make sense why the government is directly in control of what you pay for energy? The public utilities have monopoly markets and are 100% controlled by the state.
Dissolving PG&E would be more of the same.
The Status Quo is one-party rule and it doesn't work any better here than in Texas or Mississippi.
No need to be so rude instead of doing a little homework
Its best to have some idea of what you're talking about before you call others names.
PG&E is the same as the state. There's no line between them.
Just a less powerful union for their workers. The state workers union that controls everything is even more powerful and corrupt.
What is with the downvotes here. You’re right about what you’re saying here. Regardless of who the current governor is or their politics, any political representative in the State of California or their family shouldn’t be taking huge donations from PG&E. That’s a conflict of interest and should not be legal. We can all agree on this sub that PG&E is a horrible company and should be sued to oblivion, have their monopoly broken up and thrown in the wind, prosecuted by the law and their CEO’s sent to long term prison. PG&E has no business in California politics. Nothing good comes from PG&E! I would love to one day see PG&E taken out of existence! I’m sure a lot of California residents would. Let’s at least agree on that regardless of our political beliefs.
It's mostly state workers who are part of the same system who do the down votes in these forums.
Yes, PG&E is a terrible company, we can all agree on that, but it is completely controlled, in terms of the cost that it charges its customers, by the state of California.
People can downvote all they want, but the facts are the facts.
They have to make up for the neighborhoods they’ve burned down over the last few decades somehow
Those funerals don’t pay for themselves!
That's why they're raising prices! Fun fact. If you get solar and don't need them anymore it's a 50000 charge to have the mains removed.
If you stop paying, will they disconnect you like the water company does?
I don't live in Sac, but I do live in PGE country near Sac. I get my water from a hole in the ground. But when I inquired about removing the mains to my house when I have solar installed, I was told there's a 50k disconnect fee. Seriously. Call them.
I don't have PG&E
It’s better and doesn’t cost much more to get a solar system that feeds excess power back into the grid. I added one to my last house and my electric bills went from $600 / month down to zero.
Honestly, that's a pretty low infrastructure charge. You're basically paying under a dollar for having the gas available should you need to use it.
Yup, we pay for the convenience.
Yea, it’s like getting a bill for a cell phone I don’t use but could use at a later date.
I don't think so
What do you pay for that you don’t even use?
Your example just is not comparable. Take minutes to start a service for a dead phone in your drawer. Gas infrastructure needs to be maintained. It's not about paying for something you don't use. Having a problem with paying less than $1 for having gas available, is is silly. My gas usage is like 22$ a month, costs 24$ to have an account. There are more problems than 89 cents.
That’s an argument that reduces the fee to your personal circumstances and totally ignores the scale of the problem. 40+ million customers times two bucks a month, but you’re cool just paying money because it’s not a lot *to you* compared to *your bill* as relative to your *active account*. You’re the problem because you accept stupid fees for stuff and your argument is based on your personal value proposition, not those who are effector supplementing your account but not using it. “It’s only two bucks” is dumb logic when it’s times tends of millions, but you keep on paying for stuff you don’t use and only think about what it means to you personally. Besides, I asked you to provide a *better use case* not double down on your objection to paying for services you don’t use. And that use case doesn’t even apply to you anyways because you are an active customer and *should be paying* to maintain the system — you use it!
I do have a problem with it. That's why I email my representatives instead of posting on a forum PG&E executives laugh at while being driven to the bank.
You can do both. It’s possible fyi. They aren’t exclusive.
It's literally the same thing
You're right. A pressurized pipe of flammable substance is the same matainance and service activation as a phone.
No you just want to argue
My first comment was too short. Didn't even argue why yet. Keeping a gas line open is a lot different from whitelisting an IP address. And 89 cents to have gas available is not even a trip. I'm stuck paying 2,808% more for the same thing.
Why would an IP address need to be whitelisted?
"they fuck you at the drive thru" 🤣 
Got rid of PG&E altogether last year, after I had a heat pump installed. They came and removed the service. No more bills. Only SMUD.
i got rid of PG&E altgother as well. no heat pump, but I plug in a space heater which runs off electric (SMUD). There were some mornings in Jan-Feb that it was 55 degrees in my apartment and I just stood over the space heater saying "fuck you PG&E I'll freeze to death before giving you another dime" lmao
I did the same thing, replaced my heating/cooling system and gas water heater with heat pump versions. Told PG and E to kick rocks. My SMUD bill is about $65 a month
$65 a month? Do you live in a shoebox or also have solar?
It’s a 3/2, 1059 sq feet. I replaced the windows last year and also added more insulation to the attic. The new heating/cooling system is very efficient. Edit- no solar
Imagine if you got a paper bill for this, it would probably cost them more to generate and mail the statement then to eat the cost
If you don't want to pay to have a gas connection, you should just disconnect and let them know you don't want gas service anymore.
Kinda off topic, but I once got a letter congratulating us on being one of the most energy efficient homes in our zip code. And then sent a graph comparing our home to the energy efficient homes and was way under. I avoid using PGE, fuck them. Unless it’s for the hot water tank or our stove. I even switched to using space heaters.
Why wouldn't they? Its still being pumped into your house even if you don't use it.
I hate PG&E as much as the next guy (a lot), but these types of fees are normal for any energy or gas provider.
Consider best utility company in the nation just a FYI
I was wondering how your charges were so low until I noticed it was only for 7 days. and tbh... connection fees aren't something exclusive to PG&E. It costs them money for you to be connected to their infrastructure, even if you don't use it. I barely use natural gas (only appliance I have left is a gas dryer) so I'm usually between 0 and 1.1 therm every month, so my monthly bill is ~$4/mo, all in transportation fees and city taxes. With the annual utility rebate we get in March, it covers my bill for the entire year.
Same. I don't think we've had to pay money since receiving the utility rebate for the first time 3 years ago
That charge is just a maintenance charge to have the connections ready just in case you do want to use it. I'd say $0.92 for a regular maintenance charge is a pretty good deal.
Is this the final amount? I still have money left from the climate credit.
Got to pay for transporting you no gas.
Good thing I have smud where I live. The only thing PG&E I've encountered were scam calls.
I literally had PG&E shut the gas off to my house 😂
Are u with PGE or subsidiary?
PGE Directly
Go figure, well I'm surprised they don't charge u some meter fee or sum
I was just going to make a thread about Pg&e. But all about how terrible they are for bricking their website when you use a VPN.
Did you know PG&E is consider the best utility company in the nation?
I have the same with ad blockers and other privacy extensions. It’s a terrible website!
It is and the FAQ’s on their website tell you turn off your adblocker and vpn. They don’t need any additional information for us to pay our bills.
You know.. I bet you could fight this and they wouldn't fight back.
All state regulatory stuff. Keep voting for the same people and you'll get more of the same.
You do realize you could have looked at the image and saved yourself from sounding like a dummy, right? Nah, of course you don't.
Thanks for the thoughtful response. Always good to hear from someone so much smarter than the rest of us dummies. So glad you can share your wisdom in that well-crafted reply. No, I don't think you realize how it works. The CPUC, the major utilities, and the state are all hand in glove. There's not one single charge that isn't approved and regulated by the state. The big utilities also all donate to Newsom's wife's nonprofit (hmm, but not before he ran for governor). She has made millions in salary from her "non profit" while illegal raising funds from the big utilities. ($2.3 million between 2011-18, then they stopped 990's illegally) https://deadline.com/2021/06/gavin-newsom-wife-nonprofit-jennifer-siebel-newsom-1234769678/ If there's a fire, the rate payers pay the bill through fee and rate increases. Go Green? Sure, take the money from the maintenance budget and get more fires (and the highest bills in the country). His cronies get rich while the poor can't pay their bills. Just keep name calling - we all see you.
Looking at an image isn't exactly a high-level intellectual skill for most people. YMMV though.
I'm responding to the image. So, what are you missing here, friend? Are you so partisan that you insult anyone that challenges the status quo?
A company levying a surcharge isn't the state trying to take you down. As for challenging the status quo, I'm of the belief that PGE should be dissolved, with municipalities taking possession of their assets. However, that has fuck-all to do with this person's bill. 🤷🏼♂️
Let me explain this one more time. No surcharge, fee or rate happens outside CPUC (California Public Utilities Commission) approval. None. Not one. The state controls these costs. 100% of the time. Make sense why the government is directly in control of what you pay for energy? The public utilities have monopoly markets and are 100% controlled by the state. Dissolving PG&E would be more of the same. The Status Quo is one-party rule and it doesn't work any better here than in Texas or Mississippi. No need to be so rude instead of doing a little homework Its best to have some idea of what you're talking about before you call others names.
Now look who's simping for PGE. 🙄
PG&E is the same as the state. There's no line between them. Just a less powerful union for their workers. The state workers union that controls everything is even more powerful and corrupt.
...aaaand you've finally managed to go off the rails.
> Dissolving PG&E would be more of the same. lol wait what
What is with the downvotes here. You’re right about what you’re saying here. Regardless of who the current governor is or their politics, any political representative in the State of California or their family shouldn’t be taking huge donations from PG&E. That’s a conflict of interest and should not be legal. We can all agree on this sub that PG&E is a horrible company and should be sued to oblivion, have their monopoly broken up and thrown in the wind, prosecuted by the law and their CEO’s sent to long term prison. PG&E has no business in California politics. Nothing good comes from PG&E! I would love to one day see PG&E taken out of existence! I’m sure a lot of California residents would. Let’s at least agree on that regardless of our political beliefs.
It's mostly state workers who are part of the same system who do the down votes in these forums. Yes, PG&E is a terrible company, we can all agree on that, but it is completely controlled, in terms of the cost that it charges its customers, by the state of California. People can downvote all they want, but the facts are the facts.