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**California Customers to Receive Climate Credit on October Utility Bills**

SACRAMENTO – California residents who are customers of PG&E and other major utilities will see a climate credit applied to their October electricity bills, Governor Gavin Newsom announced Wednesday. The credit is part of the state’s decade-old California Climate Credit program, which aims to provide bi-annual relief to offset high energy costs.

According to PG&E, the average residential customer receiving electricity services from them will see a credit of $58.23 during the upcoming billing cycle. While the governor touted the program, emphasizing that it would be “supercharged” starting in 2026 with potentially $60 billion returning to customers to cut bills and support the state’s transition from fossil fuels, consumer advocates warn the credit doesn’t fully address the underlying issue of rising utility rates.

“Millions of California families will see money back on their electricity bills in October,” Newsom stated. “That refund will be even bigger next year thanks to new laws I signed last week.”

Mark Toney, executive director of The Utility Reform Network (TURN), acknowledged the welcome relief but pointed out, “These are refunds. They don’t address electricity rates.” He highlighted that California continues to have some of the highest electricity and natural gas costs in the nation.

A recent report from the California Center for Jobs & the Economy affirmed Toney’s concerns, noting that California’s average energy prices remain the highest among the contiguous states and Washington, D.C., for both electricity and fuels, with natural gas rates ranking third highest.

Despite concerns about affordability, Toney acknowledged that SB 254, a bill recently signed by the Governor, as a first step in the right direction. It contains provisions designed to help ease costs for utility customers by strengthening requirements for utilities to pursue cost-effective wildfire prevention, preventing shareholder profits on the first $6 billion spent on wildfire prevention upgrades, and creating low-interest loans for new transmission lines.

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