Pacific Gas and Electric

Recently turned our vacation home into our retirement home and permanent address. Right away PG&E began hitting us with huge (hundreds of dollars) of high use fees. When we called to find out why, PG&E told us that our usage base was based the amount used by other homes in our neighborhood. When we explained that our home was larger than most in our area, they pretty much told us to "Go Pound Sand"! There is no adjustment or allowance for the size of your home. They expect a 3,000 sq.ft. home to use the same amount of electricity as a 1200 sq.ft. And what's worse, they can charge us these outrageous fees forever! As I see it, it's basically a legal way for them to rob us. Shame on you PG&E.

From the PG&E tariffs on their website, PG&E increased their gas transportation costs by over 110% over the last seven years from 2010 to 2017 or 11.1% per year (ironic just after the 2010 San Bruno pipe explosion). During the TEN year period from 2000 to 2010, these same gas transportation costs increased 27.5% or 2.5% per year. The actual cost of the gas has gone down but PG&E's cost to get it us has risen dramatically. In the meantime, our California governor, a few years ago, appointed an attorney and ex-PG&E vice president to be his secretary and advisor. An investigation occurred where the ex-PG&E vice president, who still held PG&E stock, was advising our governor who to appoint as CPUC directors.

I went to voice concern of the steep gas transportation cost increase and just 1 of the 5 directors showed any genuine concern. I think everyone thinks that our governor cares about the struggling families trying to pay their utilities. In reality, it appears that this is not happening. I hope we all remember this when we vote for our governor next.

I live in an apartment where the only gas used is to heat water. For the last 6 months, our gas charges have been between 37$ and 34$ dollars each month. When I called to speak with a representative about the high fee for gas (Seeing as we don't have a gas stove, do not have a washer or use heat in our home), she said it was all based on the fee "they" pay for gas - and the fee is passed onto us.

So, how in the world does our bill for over 6 month stay at a steady rate. Not to mention, there was a month where both me and my partner had been traveling and out of the apartment for 2 weeks - and the bill stayed the same. If it was based on use, one would assume the cost would go to HALF if we were gone half the month. When I asked about a possible leak, the representative said "that is not possible." All of this doesn't add up. Seems to be they have just someone decided this was what they wanted to make from us and we have no choice but to just pay it.

I have a friend who retired from PG&E. They call it Pacific Gas and Extortion. In our home we have a flash water heater and have the heating and air system off at the power box. So basically it is only lights and the well. Our bill is 600 to 800.00 a month. Where is this going?

I would like to show you our bills which not only doubled, but more than tripled in the months of December through February this year reaching $1700+!!! We are certain that we used the same amount of gas and electricity during the months of November through February. When we asked that PG&E come to check our meter three times, all three times they responded by saying that it was due to the cold weather and never responded to our requests for an inspection of the meter.

We were approved for CARE at one point (over 65 and low income) then PG&E stated that it was cancelled for some reason that we still cannot understand why... But welcome an explanation, albeit unsuccessful in getting one. We have had to borrow money from family members to keep our power on. Even had it shut off due to non-payment when it was over $1700.

It is such a shocker! I've lived here since 2010 and have never seen it go over $500 in dead of winter. This makes absolutely no sense at all! I feel as if though we are at their mercy and regardless of questions we ask, they never mentioned anything about a price increase, but simply that we are the using more power and gas. Like I said, I know what we use, we can't possibly have it tripled for no good reason. Very frustrated and suspicious!

Highway robbery seriously. Smart meters are DUMB meters and PGE is charging more for a little power than a mortgage payment! Someone has to stop this and I mean asap! It's hot in my house right this moment and we are suffering to not turn on the AC because they charge too much and to top it all off, a surcharge starting this year for those who use too much. We need options and choices. That's what we need. No more PGE... Someone give us an alternative! I'd nab it in heartbeat.

PG&E sent checks for my two accounts for an long outage, then billed me the exact amount of the checks as an electrical adjustment! Plus my regular usage. I am low income, disabled and I thought these checks were mine!! Calling PG&E tomorrow! I am not giving them money back for an obscure "electrical adjustment" on my bills--I have farm animals for food and had to throw out vaccines! Food! Get someone to start a generator and buy gas for it during the outage. I live in a small rural area and was the last area repaired! Over 7 days with no heat, refrigeration and I don't own a car. What's up? Has anyone else suffered from this?

Along with numerous other customers our bills starting about December 2016 have doubled! It was a cold winter in California but using gas heat and having the electricity increase so much does not add up. Now that all heaters have been off for a few months our bills are still double! It is not usage, we've lived in the same house and since last year have upgraded to newer more efficient appliances, have gone down to all LED lighting, and have not added anything significant. It does not add up and obviously we're far from alone as I see numerous complaints here and news articles about this in 2017.

I heard an advertisement on the TV this evening. It stated that PG and E will "never forget Brisbane." No, they don't have to remember because the rates have increased in the last several months quite a bit. The public is paying for the upgrades in Brisbane. It makes me angry.

Earlier this year, I got a stunning bill of over $300. I called and complained, took it to a higher level, had an inspection, got the every other month schpiel, etc. I also compiled and dissected 3 years worth of bills on excel sheets for what I figured would be my defense. However, nothing budged PGE.

We are a very light usage household of 3. Extremely minimal use, meaning 1 fridge, one oven, one TV on maybe 3 hours a week, no lights on during the daylight hours, a few laptops. This is how we got our bill down to $45, because my deceased housemate with the $800 bill had the below: Kept the house at 72 degrees, had a complete sound studio, constantly plugged in, 6 computers, constantly plugged in, 5 large screen TV's constantly going, a vocal booth, constantly plugged in, an electric bed and lift (he was a quadriplegic), a HUGE refrigerator, 9 surveillance cameras. After he died and I unplugged everything, I had freed up 213 power strips, and easily that many extension cords. This made for the $800 plus bills.

And now, our minimal use, which had been once $45.00 3 years ago, also equals over $800.00? How so? Unbelievable. I have spent HOURS on the phone with PGE customer service reps. The last one, a few days ago, did a bunch of calculations to see if rebilling me would help, and he got it down to ultimately a 50 cent difference. He even had me go out and read the meter myself. NONE of this makes any sense at all. I know that dealing with PGE will get me nowhere. I just got our new bill, and though lower than $800, is still higher than our previous high. I am filing a complaint with the CPUC but I would appreciate knowing where else to turn here. This is like a second mortgage payment at this point and we barely use anything.

Before smart meter, my bill was $80.00 to $145 a month. Since Smart meter... I literally live in the dark. Afraid to turn on any lights. We use battery powered lighting most of the time. The lights are not even used much and if they are, we have 100% LED light bulbs, all through the entire house. We do not use the heat, AT ALL, EVER. We use the fireplaces. Yet my PG&E bill will be from $1,000.00 to $2,000.00 EVERY MONTH! I've complained many times to PG&E and my landlord.

Rates going up are unexplainable. I see that I am not the only one complaining about the rates of the monopoly called PG&E. I am wondering what ConsumerAffairs even does with this information. PG&E likes to make excuses like it's colder, or it's hotter or they have to fix their mistakes and charge us. This is unacceptable. ConsumerAffairs should be doing something to protect us, not them.

Our bill has consistently gone up every month for the last 5 months. No matter what we do it is impossible to get below so called tier 3. We have completely cut off power to areas of the home we do not use. We heat with a wood stove only so I can't see how we can have a power bill of almost $1000, triple the cost of last year. When the only thing that has changed is that we are using less. During the recent storms we were completely without power for 4 days yet our bill is $250 higher than the month before. When I tried to get an explanation I couldn't get a straight answer. I know that we are not using the amount of power they claim but how do you fight them?

My bill for the past two years was never over $15.00 in any month. I received a bill in January noticing me I was past due $80.00 when I checked days prior and had a credit balance. They then sent my Feb bill of $150.00. They even manipulated my past activity saying my January 2015 bill was $163.00. I have never had a bill higher than $15.00 in any month. I will be seeking representation if they don't fix my bill.

Since the SmartMeter was installed my electric bill has become aggressively larger and larger to the point where I cannot get ahead of it, even with payment programs. I am now underwater with PGE and I need relief. My bill gets bigger and bigger each month and I am constantly keeping my lights off, living in the dark keeping my heat off, etc. My mother in law is fragile and caught cold because of our need to keep the bill down, yet we are still in tier four. Bill is constantly over 4 or 500 dollars each month. This month they have included a surcharge because our usage is so high, according to them. I need someone with a sledgehammer a an advocate. Help!

We use 1200 kw roughly a month on a 3200 sq ft. house and pay $380 a month?? This is utterly outrageous. I have lived in 7 different states and in CA 3 times. I have never in my life paid this kind of money for an electric bill. I just moved here from NE, same size house and comparable usage as I checked my bills and my bill here has more than doubled in price. I've lived in the south with the AC running 24/7 and the highest bill I had was $360 in the dead of summer with 100 degree temps and 80% humidity. I'm paying more than that here in the winter with barely anything running. This is a disgrace. Down the road 15 to Roseville they pay half that because they have a publicly held utility company. This company is gouging people.

Someone took my identity to open a pg&e account (electric company) for the address that I have no relationship at all in my life. I am not aware until I got the bill over $6000 from a collection agency. It costs $6014 on a single month electric bill in a single family home which I have never ever live/own that property. I informed PG&E that it is an identity theft case. They said they would hold this account 60 days for investigation and won't mingle my real account balance. I already provided the police report and all kinds of documents that they requested within 30 days to them. However, they still combined the false account to my real account together in one bill and took the whole balance $5865.76 though my autopayment was set up for my real account.

After I found out and called them, they just said it is in the process of investigation and refuse to refund $ back to me. This couple thousand dollars is really make me trouble for paying other bills and really affect my living standard. I need this money to pay food and mortgage etc... They took $ directly from my bank account without my permission! They cannot even able to prove that I was the one who opened the false account and charged on me without any reasons. I already provided all kindly of evidences to them to proved that I never lived in that property. Yet they can't provide any evidence to me that I used their electricity but they charged on me.

This is really unfair to me and I am just a victim of the identity theft. I am so tired to dealing with them, their manager Annie, the Closing Bill Unit didn't help to solve the problem at all, she just ask me to wait for the refund after the investigate. Come on, this is not sixty bucks, this $6000 which is more than my monthly earned income. They are so ridiculous! Unfortunately they are just a monopoly company in northern california, nothing we can fight for it. Please help to spread this out. I am pain and suffering with them! My contact is **. Thank you very much.

Two years on 1/20/15, I got a parent's worse nightmare call, my son had been shot as in critical condition at a hospital in Reno. My now late mother-in-law, had been in the hospital, so I left with my mom and dad on the longest journey of my life. Upon our early morning arrival, I was told I had to wait for the doctor later in the day for his diagnosis. I worked in the medical field and it was obvious to me, but I was in denial. Later that afternoon, the doctor had informed me he was shot in the face and the bullet hit both his jugular vein and carotid artery. I refused to accept it and kept trying to get him to wake up. In the meantime, my mother-in-law was ready to be released from the hospital and no one in her family, locally wanted to take her home for a couple weeks until I could take care of my son's arrangements up in Reno.

When I returned, I found out she had been put in a nursing home, which she made me promise never to do, so I had to fight to get her home. I was able to get her released on May 1, 2015 and she passed 3 days later. I called and informed PG&E of her death. They never advised me that her name needed to be taken off and have the utilities put in someone else's. I've been going back and forth from Fresno to Reno to help search for the person who killed my son. In the meantime, I made some payments on her bill, but no matter how much I paid the bill increased to an outrageous amount, to date approx. $1,800.00. I tried payment installments, but I am disabled and lived on a fixed income and can no longer pay for her account and my own bills.

I was contacted by Denise, the person I talked to when my mother-in-law passed and told her I can't afford to pay her bill. Denise said she ran a Public Search on me and it shows that I receive mail there. Of course, I do, for the simple fact that my ex was taking my mail out of my parent's mailbox and since I checked on my mother-in-law daily and she had a secured locked mailbox, I changed my mail to this address. She said then I would be liable for the amount. "Because I receive my mail there," I asked. She said, "Well we know someone is living there because the meter and bills are jumping from $180 in November to $302.00 in December." I said, "there was no way in hell that could be." She said, "Someone's living there and you're responsible or we'll lock the meter." I told her I've been there a few times to clean up the house and make it look nice to possibly put it on the market. She was very rude and basically said, "that's your problem."

I called right back and got a guy (no gentleman) by any means and told him of the situation, little did I know, Denise was listening in and started laughing. I was very angry and he became very amused. I asked to speak with their Supervisor and thought I would get some common courtesy, boy was I ever so wrong. She was even worse! The night before, my parents informed me my dad had cancer. I just lost it, I watched my late mother-in-law die from it and I couldn't watch my dad. I spoke with Rebecca on the 18th and she gave me an extension til the 23rd (mind you the 21st & 22nd was a weekend) to pay the bill or the meter would be locked. I decided to move back in as the home was being vandalized. I talked to true gentleman (yes, they have actual people with empathy and feelings) on the 19th and he gave me 5 resources of company's that may be able to help.

In the times I talked with Denise or Rebecca they never gave me any community resources that could possibly help me (this was on a Thursday), Friday I had a doctor's appointment, plus it was the second year of my son's death and I had a lot of errands to run and did not make home in time to call the resources, but diligently am trying to come up with the money to pay this bill. Is it legal for them to hold me responsible to pay this bill because I receive my mail there? I was listed on her bill as Power of Attorney because she was not able to talk and I needed her permission to talk with them if needed. When I initially took the POA in, I was distinctly told I would not be held responsible and now that is exactly what they are doing. I'm in a panic, I don't know when they're going to lock the meter. Anybody, please, is this legal?

I called PG&E regarding my bill that was $112.17 on 8/30/16 to $ 985.98 on 9/29/16. It turned out that they dramatically guesstimated my bills. On 9/29/16 it was $1,027.47 and on 10/28/16 back to 134.39 on 11/30/2016. Their explanation was that because I opt out from their (potentially cancer-causing smart meter) they only check my meter every three months. They said everything will be review and credited, and balanced out by around November's bill. It is now January and all they have done was manipulated adjust the past meter reading that was done on foot to fit in their computer-generated guesstimates.

I am tired of these type of practices by these huge corp. I really do not want to waste my time with word of discontent. It is an absolute waste of time. I hope people who are reading this have enough balls to contact me and act. WE NEED TO COME TOGETHER BUILD OUR COMMON CASE AND SUE PG&E WITH THEIR SCAMS AND DRACONIAN PRACTICE. Please contact me.

I have been enslaved to PG&E in California for as long as I can remember. Since our primary residences have been in PG&E controlled areas I have had no other option. I own a rental property in a little pocket that PG&E does not control and my electric costs are a fraction of what PG&E charges. I hear the same complaint from everyone else who is burdened by this energy monopoly.

We finally bit the bullet and paid thousands of dollars for solar the end of 2015. The following year looked pretty good and then whammy for some reason their statements for solar production and consumption were no longer reporting accurate information and they could not tell me why. I had 4 other solar friends say the same thing, that their 11/16 electric bill was through the roof. After all the cost of getting solar and then PG&E making off with my energy production and not reimbursing me with reasonable consumption credit is a crime. Question: Has there ever been a class action lawsuit against PG&E? If not, how would we go about initiating one. I am in!

I live in San Francisco California. I don't understand Pge bill. You have Pge electric charge then Peninsula Clean Energy charge, current gas delivery charge then Spark Energy gas procurement charge?? Don't understand this at all.

No exaggeration the worst experience I have had in all my life! Does not even deserve a 1 star....negative one maybe. This company is the biggest rip off in California and since it's a billion dollar company and monopoly there is nothing a homeowner can do. No way to fight the "MAN." Moving my meter (closer to the road) was supposed to cost 2-5 thousand dollars. They said they were going to replace the main because it was old but I wouldn't be responsible for that. **! Me and everyone else that has PG&E paid for that with their ever rising costs and fees. I had to dig the 15 ft trench and when they came out to put the line and meter in it was done before I could go in the house and get my phone to record the event. 5 thousand dollars for a 15-minute job! That was what I was supposed to be responsible for. So no I paid for much more than that.

So during the job there were so many PGE people coming and going and so many screw ups I thought I was going to have a heart attack or get an ulcer at the least. After 5 months of this when they went to switch the working old gas line to the new gas line they broke my new (3 month old) on demand water heater and rendered my house floor heater unusable. So I had to shell out another $4500.00. When I submitted my claim with all my paperwork they did not contact me at all for any info and sent me an email a month later saying "claim denied, sorry not our fault". I wish I could take this claim further. I've talked to many people with similar PG&E stories of being wronged and them not taking responsibility. This is why monopoly businesses that citizens have to abide by (in this case for gas and electricity) must be outlawed.

I had 30 solar panels installed on my home in 2011. All was fine until I started receiving True Up bills that made no sense. I contacted PG&E and they told me that my panels stopped producing energy on July 15, 2013. It just happens that PG&E installed a new smart meter on that date, July 15, 2013. I have been paying for my own energy produced and at the same time paying for electricity from PG&E's grid. PG&E has given me all kinds of imaginary theories and opinions such as, my panels were repaired at some time (They have never had repairs), my electricity evaporated into the air, this was debunked by the solar company that installed the panels. They said such a thing is, "Impossible and unheard of".

I have a case open with CPUC. The problem here is that I have no part in this investigation. I don't know how they are investigating this. I don't know if PG&E is feeding CPUC the same lies they tried to give me. I believe I should play an important role in this as it is my house and my solar panels and me my family that PG&E cheated. The case is clear. My panels according to PG&E stopped producing energy on the very day they installed a new smart meter. Why won't they just take responsibility and give me the refund. According to the Internet the smart meter is either defective or was not programmed correctly. I was told by a solar panel Technician that PG&E never takes responsibility and I now see what he meant.

PG&E is overcharging my business and my bill keep going up from $1300 to $2600 a month. First I thought the PG&E meter man that read the meter is not doing his job properly. I did complain to PG&E but nothing happen, then I asked to change my meter to smart meter also nothing happen. I have added timers and motion sensor and cut the power by half for more than half a day from 2 am to 7 pm, but the bill still keep going up no matter what I do. I did call PG&E and I asked them to send one of their rep to see the work I did and give me an answer to what is going on, but I did not get anywhere with that. I have no idea what else I can do, or who to talk to. I need help.

April 2016 PGE came to my property and drilled 5 holes on my concrete without notifying me, calling me or leaving message at my door. It's been 4 months now. I am trying pay or fix my concrete. They put new cement but the other block of cement is cracked and did not fix the one by the fence. Until now, I am dealing with PGE claims dept and I've been calling and leaving messages but no return or calling me back.

I have charges from a third party that exceed my bill charges by 2. This is ridiculous. Who is a third party and why am I paying them as well and double on top of what I pay PG&E? I was also charged for winter that my home was condemn and was being repaired when there was no power at time... and they tried to say those overcharges were from over use of heater in winter?!!! I was not even in dwelling at time and power was shut off!! That's when I started to question their accuracy in system. Keep in mind this was a 2-bedroom apartment where we were at work most day and home from 5 pm on. Do not watch much tv and our heater had not been used due to it not functioning for at least a year.

In April of this year I opted out of the Smart meter. My bills were over a $125 a month for a 756 sq ft 2 bdrm apt. We haven't used either our AC or gas wall heater for 2 years now, got new windows, new Energy Star fridge, water heater, energy PC's, tv light bulbs etc. We use three box fans at night, two ceiling fans, use oven twice a week, use microwave. The only thing on 24/7 is the fridge. On July 22, 2016, received bill stating zero balance, yay, wrong! At 8 pm that same day, a Friday stated meter reader would be reading meter in few days, so Mon or Tuesday? On the 25th at 8 pm received email from PG&E for my statement, stating my electric bill was $196.42, gas $9.42. In 35 years I've never had an electric bill over $100. Are they that pissed off at me for opting out of Smart meter?

I've requested twice for service call to look for the source of the energy draw, first time never showed up, I'm still waiting to hear from them. How can my zero balance owed on July 22, jump to $196.00 three days later? They won't let me see April or June's bill. This is their breakdown of bill, Generation: $94.42, Transmission: $21.23, Distribution: $93,78, Electric Public Purpose Programs: $13.21, Competition Transition Cost: $3.30, DWR Board: $5.27. What the hell does all of this mean anyway? They are trying to make their customers pay for their mess-ups, fines or whatever.

I've been a customer for 40 years and when I became ill and required life support PGE pulled the plug without a care. My children suffers because the power PGE hold over them. I trusted PGE with my condition and they agreed to delay payments until they shut my lifeline off. Demand full payment or die. The 2nd day power was off I was taken to the ER room with pneumonia and have returned twice. My bill for PGE is $3000 and the ER $18,000 being paid by taxpayers and insurance. In actuality we all lose due to greedy corporations such as PGE who think they can extort helpless people. Sounds like the Exodus so maybe people should lead away and leave. Stockholders hold a trillion dollar debt. You can bet the CEOs will come out smelling like roses. We the people want alternatives in the state of CA if PGE think they are God.

PG&E came to my house to turn my gas on and decided I didn't need hot water anymore. They turned it off, I told him I'm disabled and recovering from brain cancer! The PG&E worker responded to heat my water in a pot on the stove.