The Los Angeles City Attorney Hydee Feldstein Soto was requested in a letter from twenty social, environmental, healthcare, and utility justice organizations to look into SoCalGas for possible price abuse and market fraud.
The California Public Utilities Commission has received a rate request from SoCalGas that would hike rates by an average of 13.7% for customers.
Due to rising commodity prices and transportation expenses, Californians’ natural fuel bills have climbed. Still, many groups are challenging the size of the increase in light of SoCalGas and its parent firm Sempra Energy’s reportedly increasing profits.
The Utility Reform Network’s executive director, Mark Toney, urged the L.A. City Attorney to look into why SoCalGas paid 250% extra for gas this winter over PG&E, resulting in rising rates for Los Angeles households. “The City Attorney has to find the amount of profit Sempra was keeping this wintertime while exporting liquid natural gas from its ports in Baja California when households were experiencing a severe affordability crisis,” says the city attorney.
SoCalGas representatives argue that the price increases are a reaction to environmental causes.
